Taming the Wild Dragon
by Andril
Summary: Fairy Tail has a habit of defeating their enemies and then becoming friends with them. What if Natsu happened to be one of those people? Watch as Fairy Tail struggles to tame the wild dragon. Smarter/OC Natsu. First Fic, reviews would be great. I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters.
1. Chapter 1

Natsu sat quietly in the back of the Eisenwald guildhall while the rest of his guildmates celebrated. Nobody dared go over to the pink haired Dragon Slayer to celebrate with him. They feared what he might do if they tried to get too familiar with him. His first week with the guild he had nearly beaten three members to death when they had mistakenly singled him out as someone weak that they could pick on. The guild had received news that Kageyama had finally found Zeref's demon flute, Lullaby, and were now planning all the evil acts they would commit with it finally being in their possession. He thought to himself 'I wonder if these idiots actually believe they'll pull off something this big. There's no way the guild masters they're targeting won't sniff this out and crush them.'

His musings were interrupted when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to see Erigor, Eisenwalds ace, standing next to him. "I know what you're thinking Natsu." He said, "This plan is perfect, we don't have to take those bastards head on and we can kill them all in one fell swoop, and with the guild masters out of the way, none of the guilds will oppose us when we take over this region." The pink haired man snorted and replied "Yeah right, you know how much of a loudmouth Kageyama is, he's probably spewing our plan to anyone who'll listen." Erigor stroked the scythe strapped to his back and chuckled evilly, "No he isn't, he knows exactly what he's in for if he breathes of word of this to anyone." And with that he walked away to begin preparations for the final phase of his plan.

Natsu looked back over the guildhall and sighed thinking, 'Well it looks like I'd better go pack, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a new guild when the dust from this little adventure settles.' And with that thought he went to his room located at the top of one of the towers of Eisenwalds headquarters. Natsu knew that they wouldn't move out for a day or so, and since he really didn't have anything to pack, he threw himself down onto his bed and started ruminating on the whereabouts of Igneel, knowing that he wouldn't really get anywhere with it but needing something to occupy his mind. He thought about the day seven years ago when he'd woken up to an empty cave, and the following years of fruitless searching. He'd drifted through a succession of dark guilds looking for any clues about where the fire dragon could have gone but never found anything. He didn't think of himself as evil like most of the people in dark guilds, he just knew that being in a dark guild allowed him to pursue all avenues of inquiry to find Igneel, many of which wouldn't be approved of by the Magic Council. He had tried to limit the suffering he caused, never going to far as to kill anybody, but he hadn't gone easy on anybody he thought might be able to give him information. He'd slowly gained a reputation as The Salamander, the fiery man who would destroy his enemies without mercy in his search for the fire dragon.

He frowned as he slowly drifted off to sleep, thinking about all the destruction he had caused throughout the years, only for that destruction to yield no results. He didn't mind the fact that he had destroyed homes and livelihoods, he was willing to do whatever it took to find Igneel, and to him, that was the most efficient method available. He fell asleep with the thought, 'I'll never find him this way. I need a new angle to look at things.'

The next day he woke up at the crack of dawn, knowing that Erigor would want to move out soon. He got dressed in his usual black trousers and gold trimmed black vest, and wrapped the white scaled scarf, one of the two items he treasured most, around his neck. He packed the rest of his few belongings in a small backpack: an extra set of clothes, 5000 jewels, and a wanted poster of himself. He smiled when he put the poster in, thinking to himself that one day he'd find a way to get to be rid of the need to do the things that got him on the poster in the first place. He turned lastly to his other prized possession, a katana hanging above the foot of his bed. He pulled it down and slid it lovingly out of its sheath, watching the light of the new sun reflect off of the shiny obsidian blade. It had been a present from Igneel, to commemorate his mastery of the basic Dragon Slayer techniques. He remembered what Igneel had said to him when he presented the grinning boy with the katana.

"_I forged this myself in the heart of a volcano, nothing will break this blade and it will never fail you in battle. With it you will be able to unleash the greatest of Flame Dragon Slayer techniques to destroy your foes."_

Natsu sheathed the sword and then settled it on his body with the hilt just sticking up over his right shoulder and the sheath slanting across his back stopping just above his left hip, tightening the strap across his chest so that it didn't bounce around. He put the backpack on over that and left the room fully intending never to return.

He sauntered down to the main hall of the guild and found that he was the first one there. Soon however the hall started filling up with people. Natsu nonchalantly ate a breakfast consisting of nothing but rice and a little bit of burnt bacon. He thought to himself 'I'll be glad to be done with these bastards, the cook can't cook worth a damn but everyone else is too lazy to do anything about it.' His breakfast was interrupted however, when Erigor entered the hall and yelled "Alright you lot, today's the day we get back at those legal bastards who stole our freedom from us, we're going to take lullaby and stomp on the flies that have been in the way of us for so long. Let's go!"

The dark guild cheered and rushed to follow their ace as he strode out of the compound. Natsu sighed and stood up from his unfinished breakfast and realized that he was the only one left in the hall. He hurried to catch up as he muttered to himself "It's probably a good thing that I'm not finishing that, less to barf up when we get on the god damn train."

A few hours later he stood with the rest of Eisenwald as panicked civilians screamed and scrambled to get off the train and out of sight of the laughing dark guild. Erigor yelled at the crowd "Everyone off! Eisenwald is taking over this train, take your luggage and flee, anyone who resists will be killed". As soon as the train emptied the dark guild began to embark on the train. Natsu held back and noticed that Kageyama had stepped off the train and was walking up to Erigor. They exchanged a few words and a look of pure rage flashed across Erigors face at something Kageyama said, and he punched him in the head. Natsu sidled over and heard Erigor snarl "How could you let those fairy flies see Lullaby, and then let them get away without a scratch." Kageyama groaned in pain as he replied "But it's not like the plan is blown, even if they noticed they couldn't stop us now." Erigor smiled coldly and said "That's the only reason you still have your life Kageyama, remember that, now get your sorry ass off the ground and onto the train." As Kageyama attempted to do exactly that, Erigor walked over to Natsu and said "I think we're going to set a trap at Oshibana station for those fairy flies." Natsu grunted and replied "I don't give a damn what you do, let's just get this train ride over with."

The train rumbled down the tracks to Oshibana station, but nobody in the dark guild appreciated the beautiful scenery as it flew by, least of all Natsu. This had nothing to do with the fact that most dark guild members didn't give a damn about scenery. It had everything to do with the fact that the Dragon Slayer was flat on his back in one of the compartments trying not to barf up his breakfast. He heard the compartment door open and somebody give a loud laugh "Look guys, the mighty dragon slayer still gets motion sickness on transportation." Natsu heard many more laughs coming from outside the compartment. He looked up and saw the face of Dabo, one of the three he had beaten up his first week in the guild. Natsu snarled "Say that to me when we get off this train, I think it's time I beat your ass again." He heard Dabo give a pained whimper as he remembered what Natsu had done to him last time, and he watched as Dabo retreated from the compartment and slammed the door shut. After what seemed like an eternity Natsu was able to drift off to sleep.

When he awoke the train had stopped, and he couldn't hear anybody moving about on it. He sat up and could hear from voices outside the train in the station. A female voice was shouting "So you're Erigor I take it. What are you scoundrels after! What is your plan for Lullaby?"

He heard Erigors cold laugh and reply "You don't know? What's here a train station?"

The same female voice from before yelled in a shocked tone "You plan on broadcasting Lullaby?"

"I wonder how many thousands of onlookers are gathered around here? If you increase the volume, Lullaby will reverberate throughout the entire city, the melody of death. It's a purge. I'm purging those fools who guard their own rights without even knowing that there are those who've had those same rights taken away."

A different female voice, higher pitched than the first, back at him "You won't get your rights back by doing something like that! Weren't you thrown out of the guild league because you had already done a bunch of evil stuff?"

Natsu could almost see the crazed smile on Erigor's face as he replied "We don't want our rights back now, what we want is power! Those with power can wipe the past clean and rule the future. Everything is going according to my plan, you fairy flies have flown right into my trap."

Natsu finally looked out the window and saw the people that Erigor was addressing. He was shocked when he only saw four people facing down the entire guild, three of them women. The first was a determined looking woman wearing an chestplate with the Heart Kreuz emblem on it and a blue skirt. What really struck about her however was her hair, which was a shocking scarlet color. He couldn't help saying out loud "Damn, that is a hot woman". The second girl had blond hair and was dressed in a short blue skirt and orange tank top with a whip at her side. The last girl was dressed in tight black leather shorts and crop top, and had long white hair running down her back. The man with them had black spiky hair and was dressed in green trousers and a long white coat.

He was shocked to hear the blonde girl call out "This is Fairy Tail's strongest team, you'd better prepare yourself!" and thought to himself, 'So this is Fairy Tail, the strongest legal guild in Fiore.

He watched Erigor float up into the air with a laugh saying "I'm leaving the rest to you guys, show these fairy flies what dark guild is capable of." Wind swirled around him and he disappeared" Seeing this he redhead shouted, "Gray! Mira! Follow him and don't let him broadcast the flute!" The man and the woman with white hair nodded and ran off in pursuit, leaving the redhead and blonde to face the entire guild by themselves. Kageyama and another one of the stronger dark mages, Rayule, leapt to pursue the departing Fairies and the others let them go.

He could hear some of the Eisenwald mages chuckling and saying to the Fairy Tail mages "Two girls, what do you think you can do to us, we're going to pluck your wings you fairy flies." The blonde looked scared at this and seemed as if she wanted to run away, but the redheads scowl only got deeper. She summoned a sword to her hand and pointed it at the dark mages saying "One more insult about Fairy Tail and I can't guarantee that you'll live to see tomorrow."

The dark mages took it as a challenge, pulling out their own swords and charging while screaming "That ain't nothing we haven't seen, we've got plenty of our own magic swords!" The redhead stepped forward and they converged on her, when they were in range she swung her sword twice, breaking Eisenwald swords and throwing back the dark mages with the power of her strikes.

With this, she charged another group of dark mages and gave a shout, cutting through them as easily as if they were practice dummies. Other mages ran up and yelled "Take some of this", holding out their hands and shooting beams of light at the Fairy Tail mage. The beams impacted throwing up smoke and dust, but the redhead had leapt high into the air to avoid the magic. While in the air she held her hands up and magic circles formed, her sword disappeared and was replaced by a long spear. When she landed she rushed another group, swinging the spear around with ease and knocking the dark mages aside. She stopped then and the spear disappeared, it was replaced by two swords, one in each hand. As she rushed to attack another group Natsu thought to himself, 'Damn she's good I've never seen anybody requip weapons that fast.'

As he watched, the blonde girl finally decided to get in on the action. She pulled a golden key off of her belt loop and shouted, "Gate of the crab, I open thee. Cancer!" Natsu chuckled as he watched the celestial spirit rush through a crowd of dark mages, giving them all haircuts and breaking their weapons, utterly destroying their will to fight.

Both the fairy tail women stepped back to catch their breaths and saw that there were still many dark mages in front of them. The redhead said "This is a pain… I'm going to wipe them all out!" Suddenly a magic circle formed beneath and she was lifted up into the air. She was surrounded with light and when the light dissipated she was wearing new armor. This armor was a long skirt of silver plates, a chest piece that left most of her stomach and chest exposed, and silver wings that appeared to be made out of sword blades.

Natsu stared at this and then smiled to himself, finally recognizing the scarlet haired mage. 'So this is the mighty Erza Scarlet, the Fairy Queen Titania.' He watched as swords appeared in the air behind her and floated in a circle around her. "Dance, my blades" she said, as they began spinning faster and faster. She made a motion, shouted "**Circle Sword!"** and her blades flew towards the Eisenwald mages and knocked them unconscious to a man.

Natsu looked around and said to himself "Well, I guess this is where I'll make my entrance, better late than never, right?" He chuckled and quickly moved out of the compartment, found the door, and stepped off the train.

The Titania, who had requiped back into her original armor, scowled when she saw him get off the train. She requiped her sword into her right hand and growled "So there was another one of you hiding on the train"

Natsu laughed at this and said, "Not hiding, I just didn't want to fight with the trash you just cleaned up."

The scarlet haired mages scowl deepened and she replied "I see, you may not have wanted to fight with them, but you'll be defeated all the same!" With this she charged him with lightning quick speed and attempted to punch him in the stomach with her left hand but he caught it, feeling the cold metal of her gauntlet give a little with the force of the punch as it smacked into his palm.

He grinned at the look of surprise on her face when he caught her punch, he quickly grabbed her other wrist so she couldn't stab him and leaned in towards her ear.

"You'll have to get serious if you want to beat me" he whispered with a smile.

She ripped herself out of his grip and jumped back, with a look of complete fury on her face. Natsu stood there with a grin on his face and waited for her to come at him again. Suddenly, a look of surprise flitted across her face and she said "I recognize you; Natsu Dragneel, The Salamander!"

Natsu bowed when she said his title, "At your service, My lady Titania. I recognized you as well."

Natsu came up from his bow and said "It's been a while since I truly stretched my legs against a strong opponent, this could be fun if I had time to fight."

"Are you going to run away, I didn't know the Salamander was a coward as well as a criminal."

He smirked at her, "Not at all, I'm just going to leave this station before Erigor springs his trap."

Erza suddenly got a worried look on her face, "What trap, tell me now!"

"Now now, where would be the fun in that. I may be leaving this shitheap of a guild, but I'm not going to cross Erigor when I do, he's actually strong enough to be a worry to me."

The Fairy got a curious look on her face at this statement. "Why would you leave your guild?"

Natsu sighed at having to explain it but went ahead anyways. "I don't want to be around when they get their asses kicked like they just did. Erigor's plan is idiotic and is going to get him destroyed. Frankly, I prefer not to draw attention to myself by killing the top guild masters in the region."

Erza looked like she had been hit in the head with a hammer as she asked "Is he planning to attack the meeting of guild masters with Lullaby?"

"Why yes, as a matter of fact he is. But if you'll excuse me, this is my time to exit."

Natsu turned and started to walk towards the exit, hoping that the Fairy Tail mages would forget about him and rush off to save their guild master. However, before he had made it a few steps he felt a breath of air behind him and dove forward, rolling away as the Titania swung her sword into the space formerly occupied by his neck.

Natsu turned back to her with an angry look, "What was that for? I told you the whole master plan so that you could run off to save your little guild master, and you take a swing at my back?"

Erza gave him a steady look and replied "I cannot let you escape Salamander; I will beat you here, and then go defeat Erigor."

Natsu laughed, "The thing is, you don't have the time to fight me, by the time it was over it would be too late."

"What do you mean, Clover Town is very far away from here" Erza said.

"It doesn't matter, in a few minutes Erigor will have made it impossible to leave this station with his Wind Wall. It won't matter if you beat me. By the time you get out of the wind wall he will have already carried out his attack."

Natsu watched the horror dawn on Erza's face as she realized the implications of what he had said. "Now you see that you'll have to let me go if you want to catch up to Erigor, this seems like quite a dilemma you're in now." He could clearly see that Erza was struggling to come to a decision. He watched her slowly lower her sword as she came to the decision that warning her Master and defeating the Erigor took priority over the Salamander. Natsu frowned as he had a thought, and then sighed, knowing that he was probably about to make a really stupid decision, but feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline that stupid decisions sometimes bring.

"Listen, I actually do want to fight you, so I'm going to propose a deal. I'll come with you to help stop Erigor from playing Lullaby, hell; I've wanted to take a crack at that haughty bastard for a while now. You give me your word as a Fairy Tail mage that after we're finished with him, you'll fight me, one on one, with no interference from your friends. If I win, I walk away and you never saw me. If you win, well, you've beaten The Salamander, that's a pretty big feat."

He watched as Erza processed his plan. "How do I know that you won't stab us in the back and run away."

He smirked at this and said, "It's insulting that you think I would break a deal, I do have a code of honor, it's just a little bit different than yours. By the way, tick tock, you're time is running out."

He saw a vein pulse in her forehead as she tried to control her anger. She drew in a deep breath and said, "Very well, lead on Salamander."


	2. Chapter 2

Natsu smirked and turned away from Erza, looking at the blonde mage who hadn't said a word since he stepped off the train. He walked over to her and put on his most charming smile, "And who might you be?"

She smiled back at him uncertainly, held out her hand for a handshake, and said "My name is Lucy Heartfilia, pleased to meet you."

"I am Natsu Dragneel, The famed Salamander, pleased to make such a lovely acquaintance." He winked at her as he grabbed her hand and bowed, moving to kiss the back of it. As he was about to, he felt a sharp point under his chin and heard a growl in his ear "I will not let you do indecent things to my guild mate in my presence, is that clear Salamander?"

Natsu felt the tip of the sword start to push into his chin and was forced to straighten up. He let go of Lucy's hand and turned to the Scarlet haired woman who still had her sword at his throat. "If you insist, though she might not mind judging from her blush." He threw a wink at Lucy whose face rivaled the redness of Erzas hair.

Erza scowled and said "Let's just go before we do end up trapped in here, I'll be sure to pay you back for this when we fight later."

The trio headed towards the exit but when they arrived all they saw was a wall of wind swirling around the station faster than the eye could see. Natsu sighed and leaned back against one of the pillars in the entrance hall, "Well it looks like we'll be stuck here for a while, too bad."

Lucy looked confused at this and Lucy said "It's just some wind, sure it'll be hard to walk through but we can get through it."

Natsu just shook his head and replied, "We can't, the wind is infused with magic, if you try walking through the wall you'll be cut to shreds."

Erza scoffed when he said this, "That little breeze, I'll break through the magic in one hit." With this statement she turned and punched at the wind wall. Her gauntleted fist impacted and she was immediately thrown back ten feet.

"I told you it wouldn't work; nothing can get through that wind wall until Erigor releases the magic inside of it."

Erza looked over at him and almost screamed, "Well what do you suggest, we have to figure out a way to get out and catch up to Erigor before he uses Lullaby on the guildmasters."

It was at this moment that the other two Fairy Tail mages decided to make an appearance in the entrance hall. They both came running up, only slightly out of breath. The man seemed slightly worse for wear but the white haired woman didn't have a scratch on her. As they reached the group Erza asked them, "Gray, Mira, no trouble with those dark mages I take it?"

The man, Gray, replied "Nah, he surprised me but he was pretty weak, it didn't take me long." The woman, who was gazing at Natsu with a questioning look on her face said "That guy was so weak even you could beat him Erza."

Upon hearing this, a vein popped out of Erza's forehead and she was abruptly standing face to face with Mira with a threatening look on her face, "You want to fight bitch, I'll beat you down into the dust."

Mira replied with an equally angry look, "You're going down tin can, you can't keep up with me."

Natsu watched all of this with a bemused look on his face before leaning over and whispering to Lucy, "Are they always like this, it doesn't seem like the most appropriate time to be fighting one's teammates, and why is Gray only wearing his boxers…"

Lucy giggled and whispered back, "I've only been in the guild a week, but every time Mirajane and Erza are in the same room they're fighting, and Gray strips subconsciously for some weird reason."

Natsu smirked before clapping his hands loudly and yelling "Titania! Don't you have something a little more important to think about than fighting right now? And stripper, put on some damn clothes!"

All four Fairy Tail mages stared at him in shock at his outburst. Mirajane gave him a death glare and then asked, "Who the hell are you?" Gray followed her saying "Who the hell are you calling a stripper?"

Natsu stepped forward with a grin and bowed, "I am Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, and I'm calling you a stripper because you're not wearing any clothes."

Gray looked down and screamed "My clothes!" before running off to find them. Mirajane however, looked ready to rip somebodys head off, "How the hell did the Salamander end up here?"

Erza sighed and said to her, "He's with us, for now, he was working with Eisenwald but decided to help us defeat Erigor."

Mirajane looked surprised and said, "Why would he do that, he's a wanted criminal?"

Erza sighed and glanced over at Natsu, "I promised that if he helped us beat Erigor I'd fight him one on one and if he wins he can leave." When he heard this Natsu stepped forward, "Speaking of Erigor, if you want to beat him before he gets a chance to use Lullaby we need to figure out a way to get rid of this wind wall."

Erza glared at the wall of wind that was keeping her from destroying the one who threatened her guild, "If we can't power through it I don't know how we're going to get out."

When she heard this Lucy brightened up considerably, "If we can't power through it, how about we go around it? Erza, do you remember when we were at Duke Everlue's mansion last week? Well when we defeated him his celestial spirit Virgo gave me her key! I haven't made a contract yet but she can use her magic to dig a hole underneath the wind wall!"

When Erza heard this she also brightened up and said, "Hurry up then! We have to catch up with Erigor before he reaches Clover town.

Natsu watched curiously as Lucy pulled out a golden key and cried "**Gate of the Maiden, I open Thee! Virgo!**" As she said this, the ground started shaking and a pink haired woman wearing a maid's outfit with broken manacles around her wrists popped out of the ground and said "You called, Master?"

Lucy smiled at it and said "I know we don't have a contract yet but would you please dig us a tunnel outside of that wind wall?" The celestial spirit nodded and said "Of course princess." At this Lucy got a delighted look on her face and mumbled "I think I could get used to that."

When the tunnel was completed and Lucy had dismissed her spirit, Erza said "Alright everybody into the tunnel, Salamander first, I don't trust you not to stab me in the back."

Natsu grinned at her as he moved towards the tunnel, "I'm hurt Titania, how could you ever think I'd possibly do something that dastardly." He winked at her and then hopped into the tunnel. As he landed he heard Erza mutter "I'm going to beat the cockiness out of that guy just as soon as were finished here," and then louder, "Gray! Hurry up and put your clothes on, we're leaving!"

When they emerged at the other end of the tunnel the wind was blowing enough to nearly knock everybody off their feet. Natsu had to shout to be heard over the wind "How are we going to catch up with Erigor, I'm sure he's already flown halfway there by now."

He watched as they ignored him and all headed towards a magic four wheeler that was parked a little ways away. Gray got onto the front and put the SE plug around his wrist. The three girls got inside the cabin. He followed them but balked when it was his turn to get in, "Is there any other way to catch up with him, I don't do well with transportation…"

He saw the three girls in the cabin look at him after his revelation, "What, is the big bad salamander scared of a little car?" mocked Erza.

Natsu got an angry look on his face as he got in and said "No I'm not, I just don't like them" He sat down next to Lucy as both Mirajane and Erza scooted away from him.

As the car got underway, the girls realized why Natsu was reluctant to get in. He immediately began looking green in the face and doubled over clutching his stomach. He moaned and said "I told you I don't do well on transportation, I get motion sickness."

Erza laughed and said, "Well at least we know the great Salamander has one weakness, who knew it would be something so trivial as transportation."

Natsu tried to snarl back but it came out as more of a whimper "Transportation isn't going to help you when I beat you like a drum after this, I think I'm going to pass out now, wake me up when we catch him." With that Natsu leaned against the cool glass of the window and was asleep within moments.

Natsu was awakened by the jolting of the car on train tracks but kept his eyes closed. He could hear the girls talking quietly and decided to eavesdrop a bit before they realized he was awake.

He heard Mirajane say "He doesn't seem like such a bad guy, I wonder how he got mixed up with a dark guild in the first place"

Erza replied "He may talk well, but he's very bad, a year or two ago I and a few other mages outside Fairy Tail took a job that involved taking down the dark guild Flaming Wrath. Well we took their compound fairly easily, their foot soldiers were fairly weak. I got caught up fighting the master so I told the others to go on ahead and clear the rest of the compound. It took me a bit to finish the master and when I went to find the rest of the team they'd all been defeated. Most of them had just been knocked out, but one man had exceptionally bad burns on his body. Later when I asked him why, he said that the Salamander had asked them if they'd ever seen a red dragon and he had made a joke about seeing one. The salamander then knocked the entire group out in a few seconds except for the man. He then asked the man where he'd seen the dragon. The man wouldn't tell him so the Salamander beat him and burned him until he finally told him it was a lie."

The girls went silent after Erza said this, and after a few moments Natsu felt he needed to clarify a few things for them. He sat up opened his eyes and said quietly, "Yeah I remember that guy, he shouldn't have joked about that."

The girls looked startled that he'd heard them, and then Erza asked "Why did you beat him like that for just a joke?"

"Seven years ago my father, Igneel disappeared. He wasn't my real father, but he found me when I was little and took me in. He was a red dragon. He taught me my dragon slayer magic and the only things I have left of him are this scarf and my katana. I will do anything necessary to find him, and if I have to beat up a few people, or a few hundred, to find him then I will. I will do anything necessary to find him."

Lucy stuttered out "B-but wouldn't you have more luck in a legal guild, you'd have access to the council's intelligence and wouldn't have to be a fugitive."

Natsu smiled darkly "The council doesn't know anything, I've been in their records and it's blank concerning dragons. Being in a dark guild has given me license to be a bit more, persuasive, than being in a legal guild would give me. Besides, being a fugitive really isn't that hard, the most problematic thing is finding good food."

Natsu laughed bitterly when he saw the angry expressions on Erza and Mirajanes faces, "Relax, it's not like my brand of persuasion has gotten me anywhere. I've been searching for seven years and haven't found a trace."

Erza opened her mouth to say something but before she could, the magic four wheeler slammed to a stop and she was thrown forward into Natsu's lap. He grinned and said "I think you're cute Scarlet but aren't you moving a bit fast?" He earned a ringing slap for his efforts from a blushing Erza, "If you say anything else I will end you!" Before he could say anything that would force her to make good on her threat they heard Gray yelling from outside, "We've caught up to him!"

When Natsu heard this he threw himself out the door, desperate to get away from the vehicle. When he did he stumbled and nearly fell off the side of the bridge that they were on. He quickly moved so that the girls could get out without pushing him off. He turned towards the front of the vehicle and saw Erigor standing ten feet away with his scythe in his hand and a frown on his face.

"So Natsu, you got captured by these Fairy flies? I knew you were weak but damn, that's just sad."

"Nah, I made a deal with them, all I had to do was tell them where you were headed, and I get to beat the crap out of your sorry ass, then fight the Fairy Queen Titania. I think I got the better end of the deal."

Erigor laughed when Natsu said this, "You think you can turn traitor, and then beat me? Bring it you sorry excuse for a dark mage."

Natsu drew the katana off his back and replied, "With pleasure."

He made as if to charge forward but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him. "We should fight him together, with the numbers we have there's no way we can lose." said Erza.

Natsu laughed shook her hand off his shoulder, "Please, this guy is a joke, I'll destroy him." Having said this, fire began to appear on his hand and cascade down his katana until it was wreathed in bright orange flames.

Without another word he charged forward and swung his flaming sword overhand at Erigor. Erigor easily parried with his scythe and then said, "You'll have to be faster than that if you hope to hit me."

Natsu smirked but didn't say anything. Suddenly the flames on Natsu's katana seemed to dance and grow. The fire from his sword grew more intense and the metal on Erigor's scythe began to glow a cherry red, and then slowly give way under the pressure of Natsu's sword. Seeing this Erigor disengaged and jumped back.

"So close fighting isn't going to work, I'll just have to destroy you at range" Erigor shouted. He jumped into the air, summoning wind magic to keep him aloft. Erigor shouted "**Storm Mail!**" and spun his scythe around, generating air currents. After a moment he was surrounded by spinning air that covered him head to toe, the only thing Natsu could see were his eyes, glaring out at the Dragon Slayer. "With my armor of wind, there is no way your flame can reach me; it will be snuffed out before getting within a foot of me."

Natsu looked up at the figure some thirty feet in the air and said to himself, "No way of knowing until I try." He smiled and cried "**Flame Strike of the Fire Dragon!**" as he swung his sword, generating a crescent shaped burst of flame that sped towards the floating Erigor. As the strike reached Erigor though, it was dissipated by the gusts of wind swirling around him.

Erigor laughed as he shouted "I thought you'd be a little bit stronger, but I think I'll finish this now. This is the flying phoenix magic that will tear anything to ribbons! **Emera Baram!**" As he said this a multitude of magic circles appeared in front of him.

"Salamander! If you get hit by Emera Baram you'll be torn to shreds!" yelled Erza.

"Scatter to the wind you hotheaded brat!" Erigor shouted.

A violent tornado appeared in front of Natsu and rushed forward, consuming him. The Fairy Tail mages were a bit farther behind him so they didn't feel the brunt of the wind, but they had to shield their faces from flying debris and were pushed backwards. When the wind cleared, Natsu stood calmly where he had been before, his sword held vertically out in front of him.

"Wha-what the hell did you do!" yelled Erigor in shock.

Natsu smiled coldly, "You know nothing about me you fool, now feel the flames of my wrath!"

Flames began to dance around the dragon slayer, and then erupted into a massive pillar of fire that shot hundreds of feet in the air, the intense heat forcing the Fairy Tail mages to move back for fear of being burned. Erigor's storm mail began to behave erratically, and then began to weaken as Erigor thought 'What is happening! How did he go from beaten to this flaming monster?'

As Erigors storm mail dissipated, Natsu saw his chance. He launched himself into the sky with a burst of flame from his feet and rocketed towards Erigor. As he got close enough he screamed "**Sword Edge of the Flame Dragon!**" and struck Erigor with his sword. Erigor was engulfed in flames and then his body was flung back and sped towards the ground, creating a crater as he impacted.

Natsu dropped down towards the tracks and touched down lightly. He extinguished the flames that wreathed his sword and said "That's what you get for taking me lightly, you arrogant bastard."

He sensed the Fairy Tail mages run up behind him as he sheathed his katana. They skidded to a stop beside him and Lucy said "Wow, that was the biggest display of power I've ever seen! I thought you had lost for sure!"

"Bah, that was nothing, I hadn't actually seen him fight, so dealing with his storm mail was a bit tricky, I had to use the intense heat from my fire to draw the wind away from his body."

Mirajane said "Still though, that was a powerful attack I'm surprised you got off so lightly."

Natsu laughed and said "It was powerful, but I absorbed most of it with my sword."

All four of the mages looked at him with confused looks until he explained, "My sword has the ability to absorb magical attacks so that when I'm fighting one of those long range bastards like Erigor, I can take their attacks as I rush in to bash their faces."

Erza was astonished by this, "So that's how you were able to beat so many mages at once, if they don't attack you physically you can just absorb their attacks."

Natsu smirked and said "Yep, that's why it's generally never a challenge to fight mages, but it could be a lot of fun fighting you, since you use physical weapons."

He turned suddenly and walked over to the defeated and unconscious Erigor. He looked around and spotted Lullaby where it had fallen out of Erigor's pocket. He grabbed it and then walked back to the group, "I believe this is yours, do whatever the hell you want with it."

Mirajane took the flute from him with a smile and said, "Thank you for helping us protect our guild master."

Natsu laughed and replied to her "I didn't do anything for your guild master, I did it because I wanted to fight that prick Erigor, and now I get to have a fair fight with Titania."

Erza glowered at him and said "Well as noble as your intentions are, we should take this to our guild master, and then I will fight you."

Natsu waved his hand nonchalantly, "Whatever, let's get that over with, I'm ready to be off this damn bridge."

Lucy smiled sweetly at him "Alright then Salamander, back into the four wheeler we go."

Natsu looked at the vehicle and felt that familiar nauseous feeling beginning to stir and then said "Fine, fine, I may be a criminal but you don't have to have fun torturing me. Aren't you the good guys?"

Everyone climbed in, with Erza driving this time, wanting to avoid another incident like falling into Natsu's lap.

The four wheeler sped along the track until a few hours later they arrived in Clover Town. Natsu was the first to push his way out of the vehicle and when he did he fell onto the ground saying "I'm never getting on transportation again, ever."

When he stood up he could see all the Fairy Tail mages were laughing at him and he said darkly "You'd do the exact same thing if you had my motion sickness."

The group began making it's way towards the guild meeting hall. As they walked through the forest they encountered a rather small old man sitting on a rock reading a magazine. The Fairy Tail mages were slightly ahead of him so he couldn't see the smiles that broke out on their faces as they ran up to him, Erza saying "Hello Master! What are you doing out here?"

The old man turned and when he was who was calling for him a blush rose up on his face and he quickly attempted to hide the magazine behind his back. He stuttered out, "E-e-erza, Gray, Lucy, Mira, what are you all doing here?"

While the Master was still caught up in the surprise of the event, Natsu snuck around behind him and snatched the magazine out of his hand. The Master turned around sputtering "Hey, give that back, who the hell are you?"

Natsu jumped back slightly out of his reach and said, "Yo, I'm the Salamander." The Master looked stunned at his announcement and Natsu took his silence as an opportunity to look at the page the Master had been on. He was mildly shocked to see a full photo spread of Mirajane in an extremely revealing bikini. He held out the magazine to show the others and said "Damn guys, your Master is kind of a pervert."

Gray saw the magazine and just laughed but all three girls had a dark aura surrounding them and murder in their eyes as they turned on the master and demanded an explanation.

"erm.. well… you see… I was…" Before he could get any further he was interrupted by a bright purple glow from the flute clutched in Mirajane's fist. She dropped it in surprise and purple smoke began flowing out of its three eyes. A voice emanated from it saying "A bunch of cowardly wizards, every last one of you!"

Everyone looked on in surprise as a gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky above their heads and purple lightning began to shoot out.

"I can't stand it anymore, I'll devour them myself!"

With this statement a powerful form appeared beneath the circle, a demon ten stories tall, with three purple glowing eyes in its head.

"Your pitiful souls, that is!"


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone stared up in shock at the demon that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"What is that, it's so big!" exclaimed Lucy as the group stared in awe.

Natsu gave her a bemused look, "That's what you're going to complain about, a demon of Zeref's book that can rip the soul out of your body and you're complaining about its size."

The aforementioned demon decided at this time it was time to stretch its legs and a large magic circle appeared in front of its mouth. A moment later a great beam of light erupted from the circle and blew away a nearby mountain.

From the house where the guild masters had their meeting Natsu could see a stream of people running out of it with looks of panic on their faces. Before he could notice much else he heard Erza beside him saying, "Mira, Gray, come on, we're going to take this thing out."

Natsu turned and saw Erza call out, "**Requip: Heaven's Wheel!**"and in a flash of light she was wearing the armor from before, a skirt with metal plates, a revealing chest piece, and wings seemingly made out of blades. He heard Mirajana cry out "**Take Over: Satan Soul!**" and looked over to see what she had done. What he saw made his jaw drop. Mirajane had turned into a demon, with wings and a large tail, and with extremely skimpy armor. Before he could even make a remark, Erza, Mirajane and Gray had all launched themselves at the Lullaby demon.

Lucy looked over at him in surprise and said "You're not going to fight it?"

Natsu snorted and said, "Not part of the deal, I held up my end of the bargain when I beat Erigor, now Titania has to fight me."

"But what if they lose; Lullaby will eat your soul too."

Natsu laughed at the thought, "Nah, my sword will absorb the magic that Lullaby emits so it won't be able to affect me. You should probably worry about yourself though."

Makarov, Lucy, and Natsu watched as Erza, Mirajane, and Gray attacked Lullaby. Gray used his **Ice Make** magic to send lances of ice crashing into the demon. Mirajane flitted around the demon, dodging it's huge arms with ease before darting directly above the demon and gathering darkness in her hands. She flung her hands out towards the demon and shouted "**Evil Explosion**" causing a beam of darkness to come hurtling down on the demon. Erza charged straight in, dodging an attack and cutting two long furrows out of the demons side with her swords.

Makarov looked slightly amused at the entire ordeal, turning away to ask Lucy "So, how the hell did the Salamander end up with you guys." Natsu grinned and answered before Lucy could utter a word, summarizing everything that had happened over the day.

Makarov listened and then turned back to watch the fight with the demon, thinking.

"Well you know Salamander, if Erza and the others lose to Lullaby, you won't get a chance to fight her." Makarov smiled cunningly, he knew which buttons to press if he was going to convince Natsu to fight.

Natsu smirked and replied, "You make a fair point old man, but if Titania can't beat up one measly old Zerefian demon, the fight may not be worth it."

Before Makarov could make his reply, the demon roared in anger, throwing back its head and creating a large magic circle above its mouth.

"Here it comes; this is the curse of the Lullaby." The three watched as the plants withered and they could feel an unseen force tugging at them. Natsu pulled out his katana and felt the force vanish, as his sword absorbed the magic.

The demon Lullaby screamed, "I'll be dining on your souls!" as it emitted a soul crushing sound. Moments later though, the sound petered out and the mages could only hear a whisper of air.

"Wh-what is this sound? What happened to my beautiful sound?" cried the demon.

All the mages looked on dumbfounded, and then Natsu fell on his ass laughing.

"He can't play his lullaby because of all the holes they put in him earlier, oh man, this demon is so freaking lame!"

The demon seemed to hear this and before they could react, it roared in rage and swatted Mirajane, the closest person to it, out of the air, sending her crashing into the ground.

"How dare you mock me? You pathetic humans!"

There was a flash of light, and suddenly flames exploded in front of Makarov, Lucy, and Natsu. Luckily for Lucy, Gray had interposed himself between the demon and the mages and shouted "**Ice Make: Shield!**" causing a large wall of ice to rise up in front of him, shaped like half of a flower petal.

Everyone was shocked at the display of anger and power but Natsu only smiled. The flames that had seemingly been flowing rampant through the woods began to flicker, and they then gathered into streams of fire that were drawn towards the pink haired dragon slayer. He opened his mouth and the fire streamed in, until every last bit had been sucked down by Natsu. The Fairy Tail mages looked at him with dumbfounded expressions as he laughed and said, "Thanks for the meal big guy."

He smiled with a cold expression on his face and said "Seems like I've pissed you off. Good. Now that I've eaten, feel the flames of my wrath!"

He launched himself into the air, his katana held in one hand, fire wreathing both of his hands. "**With a flaming right hand, and a flaming left hand, when you combine the flames together…**" When he came to this point in the chant, the flames surrounding his hands were absorbed into his sword and it began to glow a cherry red, and after a moment more, turned into a blade completely composed of flames. Nastu screamed "**Piercing Blaze of the Fire Dragon!**" and launched his sword at Lullaby. The sword flew towards the demon and passed through one of its eyes without resistance. As it passed through, a huge ball of fire engulfed the entire demon, and its screams of agony could be heard for miles.

When the flames dissipated nothing remained of the demon and Natsus sword was stuck quivering point first in the ground, back to its original obsidian black.

Natsu floated down to the ground and lightly touched down next to his sword. He leaned on it as the others ran up to him, trying not to show how out of breath he was from his attack.

The first to reach him was Erza, who had requipped back into her normal armor and navy skirt. When she reached him she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and growled, "What the hell was that! I didn't say anything about us needing your help."

Natsu glared at her and knocked her hand away, "Oh get over it, I got bored with waiting for you to finish that lame ass thing so I decided to jump in."

They continued to glare at each other as the others came over to where they were, Gray having to support Mirajane due to the damage that had been inflicted by the demon's one attack.

Lucy had an awestruck look on her face when she and Makarov reached him and Erza. "Natsu, that was amazing, that's the most powerful attack I've ever seen! But… um… I think you may have overdone it."

She pointed to the giant crater that his attack had created. He laughed and said "It's fine the only thing there was… the… guild master meeting hall… oops."

They saw a crowd of wizards gathering next to the crater, gesturing angrily and pointing towards where the group was standing.

Natsu looked mildly nervous when he looked at the group and saw that Erza had an expression on her face that promised him a painful death.

He chuckled nervously and said "Hey, with that demon raging around it was bound to happen anyways! And besides, you can't turn me in yet, you still haven't held up your end of the bargain."

Makarov watched the exchange with a look of horror. He kept looking from the giant crater, to the angry mages, and back at Natsu and Erza thinking about all the money this was going to cost him. He sighed and said "Well, if we want to not get locked up by that angry crowd of mages over there, we better get out of here!"

All six of the mages turned to look at the angry crowd that had gathered and was starting to march towards them.

Natsu laughed "Alright old man, never thought a legitimate guild master would be telling me to run away from the scene of a crime but it works for me!"

With that the group turned and dashed off into the forest, leaving behind a giant smoking crater, an angry mob of mages, and a demonic looking flute with a large crack running down the middle lying forgotten on the ground.

* * *

><p>A few days later Natsu found himself accompanying the group of Fairy Tail mages back to Magnolia. He had wanted to fight Titania the day after the fight with Lullaby, but both admitted that their powers still hadn't recovered enough and so they postponed their fight. He found himself agreeing to Makarov's proposal that they all go back to Magnolia and Natsu could fight Erza in front of the entire guild.<p>

When the idea was proposed Natsu thought to himself, 'Sounds pretty dangerous, if I beat her up in front of her entire guild they might want to get revenge, but then again, I could beat her in front of her entire guild. If worst comes to worst I can always use _that_ to get away.'

So after an agonizing train trip, most of which he spent unconscious due to his motion sickness, he found himself following the group of Fairy Tail mages into their guild. When they reached the large doors of the guild hall, Mirajane stepped forward, kicked it open and said "We're back!" The roar of conversation Natsu heard when the doors had crashed open was silenced for a moment. But after a moment cheers burst out as many of the guild stood up and rushed towards the group with cheers.

When Natsu saw this he ducked around the side of the building making sure nobody noticed. He found a side entrance and made his way into the guildhall. He peeked through the door and saw that almost everyone in the guild was crowded around the returning mages asking questions. He grinned and strode over to the bar, seeing a very pretty white haired girl standing behind it washing a glass and smiling at the commotion.

He plopped himself down at the bar and gave the girl his most winning smile, "Hi I'm Natsu, can would you mind getting me a glass of your strongest drink?"

The girl smiled back at him and reached under the bar for a bottle and glass on a reflex, but then stopped and looked at him quizzically, "Wait a second, who are you?"

He kept on smiling and replied, "I'm Natsu Dragneel. I worked with those guys over there on their last job and decided to come pay Fairy Tail a visit."

On hearing this, the girl smiled and continued pouring him his drink, "Well that's nice, my name is Lisanna, Mirajane is my older sister."

Natsu looked closer and could see the family resemblance, "Well I hope you're not much like your sister, she's pretty scary."

Lisanna smiled back at him, "Oh no, Mira is an S-class mage, I'm nowhere near as powerful as she is." With this she placed a shot glass full of a clear liquid in front of him, "On the house, since you helped them with their last job."

Natsu smiled and thanked her. He quickly put lit a small flame on the tip of his finger and lit the liquid on fire, but before he could down the shot he felt two presences behind him.

He looked as Lisanna and sighed, "Titania and the Demon are behind me right now aren't they."

She nodded mutely. He turned around and was met with a glare from both women that would have sent a lesser man fleeing for the hills and probably greater men than him too. Natsu held his ground though, and said "And what can I help you with this fine day ladies?"

The entire guild was now watching the exchange in awestruck silence. Mirajane was the first to say something, "What are you doing, drinking at our bar, and flirting with my sister." She said in a quiet, deadly voice.

Natsu grinned at her and said "Well if a criminal like me is going to have to spend all day in a legal guild, I think I should be able to have a drink and chat with a pretty girl, it's been a long time since I've done either."

At this statement whispers broke out all over the guild.

"What does he mean he's a criminal?"

"Why would they let a criminal in here?"

"Pink hair… katana… white scaled scarf… I think that's the Salamander!"

Makarov calmly made his way over to the bar as electricity crackled between Natsu and the two women, and jumped up on it.

"Alright brats listen up. This here is Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, he helped us on our last job and in exchange, Erza and he are going to fight tomorrow."

Upon hearing this laughter swept through the room and shouts and jeers could be heard.

"Hah, a no good criminal like him is gonna get his ass kicked!"

"Erza is gonna wipe the floor with this kid."

"Poor bastard doesn't know what he's getting himself into."

Makarov heard all this and shouted "Alright you lot, shut up and go back to what you were doing!"

He turned and sat down cross legged on the bar, ordering a drink from a shocked looking Lisanna.

Mirajane and Erza continued to glare at a smirking Natsu. Erza finally said "If it weren't for that stupid deal I'd kick your ass right now and hand you over to the council without a second thought."

Natsu winked at her and said "Yeah, too bad we have this thing called honor, right?" and turned back to the bar where his flaming drink sat.

He heard her mutter, "You don't have any honor, damned criminal." And then louder, "Lisanna! I require strawberry cheesecake!" as she moved down towards where Makarov was seated.

He felt hot breath on his ear and heard Mirajanes voice, "If you so much as look at my sister wrong Erza won't be able to find enough pieces of your body to fight."

He grimaced at her statement and when he felt her move away picked up the glass said "Cheers" and downed the shot, flames and all.

He sat in silence at the bar, fiddling with the empty shot glass as the guild went back to normal. He could feel curious eyes on his back and after a bit somebody came and sat down next to him. He turned and saw a very pretty girl with long brown curly hair wearing tight brown pants and a blue bikini top next to him.

She called down to Lisanna "Hey Lisanna, I need a beer!"

Natsu saw Lisanna nod and smile and then disappear into a storeroom.

He looked at Cana quizzically and said "There's beer right behind the bar why didn't she just grab one of those?"

Cana grinned at him and said "Wait a moment and you'll see cutie."

Natsu inwardly grinned at her statement but kept a blank face as he waited for the barmaid to reappear.

She did just that moments later, hefting a barrel on her shoulder. She walked around to where Cana sat in front of the bar and sat it down carefully next to her. With another smile she went back behind the bar and started cleaning mugs again.

Natsu watched awestruck as the next thing he knew, Cana had grabbed knocked the top off of the barrel, grabbed two mugs, dipped them both in the beer until they were full to the brim, and handed him one. "It's not every day that a famous criminal wanders in, let's have a drinking contest eh?"

Natsu grinned at her statement, "Well I don't know, as long as you promise not to take advantage of me afterwards." With that statement and a wink he grabbed the mug from her hand and downed the entire thing.

She grinned back at him, "No promises, I'm about to drink you under the table." She also drained her mug and then grabbed his and refilled both, slamming them down on the bar. "Let's get started."

As the two began drinking, most of the guild clustered around them, shouting bets, all of which were on Cana. Lisanna kept careful tab of which of all the bets as she went around collecting jewels in a jar.

Natsu and Cana tuned out the rest of the guild, steadily drinking mug after mug of beer. They drank through the first barrel, and the second, and were halfway through the third when the guild finally quieted down.

Whispers filled the entire hall, awestruck that this Salamander was keeping up with Fairy Tail's resident alcoholic.

Finally as their mugs scraped the bottom of the third barrel, a change occurred. As Cana leaned over to refill her mug she suddenly fell out of her chair, unable to keep her balance. Silence reigned in the hall, until Cana let out a drunken snore.

Nobody moved as Natsu grinned, stood up and walked calmly over to where Lisanna stood with her jar of jewels. He said to her "I believe these are mine then, since nobody bet on me." She nodded and he took the jar, dumped the jewels into his backpack.

He walked back over to the bar and sat down, picking up his half empty mug he began sipping on it. He only had to wait moments before the onlookers let out a roar of amazement.

A purple haired man with a long white coat shouted "That's insane! Nobody can beat Cana in a drinking contest!"

A huge white haired man who looked suspiciously like he was related to Mirajane shouted "Only a real man can beat Cana!"

The rest crowded around him letting our similar exclamations of disbelief and asking him how he had done it.

He turned around and gave a big grin, "Well, I can't get drunk. My fire magic burns off the alcohol as I drink it." The Fairy Tail mages looked awestruck by his answer and then went right back to talking with him.

Over the next few hours he talked with most everybody in the guild, shamelessly flirting with the girls and making friends with the males who were still impressed with his feat of drinking.

The only people who did not participate were Erza and Mirajane, who sat at the bar fuming. Erza ate slice after slice of strawberry cheesecake and Mirajane nursed a mug of beer. Soon however the inevitable happened; Mirajane was bumped into by a guild member and spilled her beer all over Erza's cake. The entire guild noticed and went deathly silent, only Natsu continued talking as he didn't know what was going on.

He slowly caught the hint and looked over to at what the others were watching. Erza was visibly shaking with anger and Mirajane looked surprised, but smug. Suddenly Erza had turned and was pinning Mirajane up against a column shouting "You have ruined my cake! I will punish you!"

Mirajane got angry and pushed her away saying "Bring it you tin can, I'll wipe the floor with you!"

Suddenly the guild had all moved away from them as they began fighting, punching and kicking and throwing chairs at each other. Natsu happened to be standing next to Elfman and Loke when this happened and he leaned over to them and asked, "What the hell just happened?"

Elfman looked at him a little fear in his eyes and said, "Mira messed with Erza's cake, only real men mess with Erza's cake. Plus those two are rivals who will take any excuse to fight each other." Right as Elfman finished his sentence a chair flew by Natsu and struck him, hurling him back into another guild member, causing a chain reaction that resulted in a guild wide brawl."

Natsu escaped from the mess and hopped on top of the bar next to Makarov, "Hey old man, this is the best damn party I've ever been too, none of the dark guilds I've been with have started an all-out brawl."

Makarov looked a little pale, "Those damn brats are going to ruin me, breaking all that furniture."

Lisanna, who was watching it all from behind the bar, came over and said, "Relax Master, this is how they have fun."

They suddenly saw Lucy sliding along trying to avoid the flying chairs, mugs, and bodies. She successfully did so and made it too the bar saying, "This is ridiculous! I nearly got killed just moving across the guild!"

Natsu laughed at her and then sighed, "I wish I could get in on this, I do enjoy a good brawl, but if I tried everyone would probably assume I was trying to actually kill them."

Lucy frowned at him and said, "Well that's your own fault, you are a wanted criminal."

He sighed and leaned back against a pillar looking up at the rafters, "Yeah, I guess."

The brawl continued, leaving destruction in its wake, and when it finally petered out because everybody was too exhausted to continue, all the tables and chairs had been broken and there were many person sized dents in the wall.

The only people still fighting were Erza and Mirajane, but even they looked ready to drop, and that's just what they did, after both delivering a brutal punch to the other. Natsu stood up from the bar and announced to the guild, "Well it's getting pretty late; I'm going to go find a place to stay tonight, see you all tomorrow for the fight."

Without another word he walked out into the night. He headed towards the outskirts of town, towards a forest he had seen on the way in. It took him about thirty minutes to get out to it. He walked deeper into the forest until he found a small clearing. He stayed at the edge of it and took his backpack off, leaning against a tree. He unstrapped his sheathed katana from his back and then sat down with his back against the tree trunk. He rested the katana across his lap, keeping his hand on the hilt, ready to draw it at the first hint of danger.

He sat for a while, staring up at the stars. He said to himself, "Is this really what Igneel wanted me to do? Spend my life searching for him, hurting anyone who gets in my way, and a lot of people who were just there."

A light breeze sprang up, carrying on it a familiar scent that made the dragon slayer smile slightly. "Come on out Mira, I know you're there."

He saw a figure rise up from the bushes fifteen feet away and as the figure drew closer he saw Mira's features pop out of the darkness.

She sat down cross-legged in front of him and said "Why are you all the way out here, why not stay at an inn."

"Wanted criminal remember. If I show my face too much around town the council is bound to get wind of it."

"You do have a fairly hefty reward on your head."

"It comes with the territory, I don't mind sleeping out under the stars, it's pretty peaceful."

She looked at him and said quietly, "What happens if you lose to Erza tomorrow?"

Natsu contemplated the question for a moment, "If I did lose, highly unlikely as that is, she'd probably turn me over to the council and I'd end up in jail for the rest of my life."

Mira sat quietly after hearing his statement, "So why make the bet with her, why not just run out right now and not risk getting turned over to the council."

"Because as surprising as you may find, I do have a code of honor, I was raised by a dragon after all, once my word is given I can't take it back, that's generally why I never give my word."

"You're really not that bad of a guy underneath all that tough talk are you?"

Natsu chuckled at her naiveté, "Yes I am, don't get me wrong that was the most fun I've ever had outside of having an actual fight, but I've caused too much destruction and misery to be called anything other than a bad person."

"Don't you think you can change though?"

"Of course, but when the past catches up with me what am I supposed to do? Even if I ended up with the noblest of intentions there's no way I could willingly give up my freedom and spend the rest of my life in jail."

"What if you could though, what if you could put your past behind you and start something new?"

He sighed, pondering her statement, "Then I'd probably take the chance, but I won't get it, and even if I did, how could others not look at my past. They'd see the Salamander, the man who burn down towns on a whim, the man mothers use to scare their children at night. Nobody would trust me and I'd be in the same boat I'm in now, just without a bounty on my head. No, Tomorrow I'll either beat Titania and be on my merry way, or lose to Titania, and be on my not so merry way to a council dungeon."

"Did you really burn down a town on a whim?"

"Well the only time I burned down an entire town it wasn't on a whim. I had a… disagreement… with a member of the dark guild I was a part of at that time, and it got physical, and I ended up fighting the entire damn guild in that one town."

"How did you win?"

Natsu gave a loud bark of laughter, "I didn't, I beat all but three of them, but they were the three most powerful there and I knew that I didn't have the magic power left to fight them, so I set the entire town on fire to cover my escape."

They sat in silence for a while as Mirajane thought about the conversation they'd just had, and Natsu just stared at the stars, wondering when she was going to get to the real reason she was here.

"Look, Natsu, come back into town and stay at my house, the woods are pretty dangerous at night and you'll need a full nights rest to beat that rusty tin can tomorrow."

Natsu smiled as she finally got to the point, "I don't think Lisanna and Elfman would take too well to that."

"Nah, by the time we get back they'll be fast asleep, and in the morning well, it'll be morning and already have happened so they'll get over it."

Natsu thought about her reasoning and the twistedness of the logic appealed to him. Giving another bark of laughter he said, "Alright Mira you win, which way is it."

He stood and re-strapped his katana back on, and slung his backpack over one shoulder. Mirajane also got up and they set off back towards town.

Mirajane and her siblings lived in a fairly large house near the middle of town. They arrived at it and went in as quietly as possible, tiptoeing on the hardwood floors so as not to wake her siblings. She led him to the living room and pointed to the couch, "You can sleep there tonight."

He winked at her and quietly teased, "Awww I don't get a cuddle buddy?"

She glared at him and then blushed, "Just shut up and go to sleep, idiot."

He threw her another wink before dropping his stuff on the floor and lying down on the couch, making himself comfortable. He watched as she disappeared into another room, and within moments he had fallen into a deep, contented sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Natsu woke up to the smell of food and the sound of somebody moving around in the kitchen. His first instinct was to burn the house down but before he did this brain caught up with his instincts and told him that burning down Mirajane's house would be a bad idea. So instead of going with his instincts he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up, surveying his surroundings. Mirajane's house was, nice. Nicer than any of the places he'd stayed in that is. He buckled on his sword, never going anywhere without it, and decided to go to the kitchen and see what was on the stove.

He walked in to see Lisanna standing at the stove cooking something while softly humming. He walked over to get a closer look and said, "'Morning" as he did so. His greeting was met with a scream and a hot skillet slamming into his face. His first instinct again was to draw his sword and beat down the person who had attacked him, but soon enough his brain had caught up and told him that beating up Mirajanes sister was not the best way to start the day, especially after she'd been kind enough to let him stay in her house.

When his brain told him this he decided to just stay on the floor where he'd landed after the hit and let somebody else sort it out, this turned out not to be the best course of action because moments later he was picked up by the front of his shirt and found himself face to face with Elfman. "It is not manly to break into other people's houses!" and with that he slugged Natsu in the face and sent him flying back into the living room where he'd slept, crashing into Mirajane who had also come to the kitchen to see what the commotion was, and flying back into the couch in a tangle of limbs.

His instincts screamed at him to get up and destroy his attacker, and this time his brain agreed. The only problem was that he had landed with Mirajane on top of him and he could see her begin to exude a dark aura that generally promised death when a woman was glowing like she was. So instead of destroying everything within 50 feet of him he growled "Be glad I'm a polite person or your brother would be a pile of ash."

Mirajane, instead of attacking the person that had slammed into her, decided to look around and quickly figured out what the situation was. She sighed and stood up, putting her hands on her hips and glaring down at the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Don't threaten my brother after I was so nice as to let you sleep on my couch!"

"Well tell your brother not to attack me after I've just woken up!"

She looked over at Elfman and Lisanna who were standing in the entrance to the kitchen, Elfman quivering with rage and Lisanna clutching a skillet that still had the remnants of eggs sticking too it. "Why did you guys attack him!"

"Sis, He isn't a man! He broke into our house!"

"You idiot! I let him sleep here! How would he know where we lived if I hadn't shown him!"

It took him a moment to realize the implications of her statement and when he did, he marched off back into the kitchen in a huff. Lisanna, also realizing that she had attacked a guest in her home, blushed and gave Natsu a deep bow, "Please accept my apology for hitting you with the skillet."

Natsu grumbled and then said, "Don't worry about it, it's not the first time I've been attacked in the morning, and at least there were no snakes this time." Natsu shuddered at the memory and continued, "But maybe next time look before you smack."

Lisanna smiled and gave another bow before going back into the kitchen. Natsu noticed that Mirajane was trying to hide a smirk and asked "What?"

"You have umm… you have egg in your hair." She burst out into a fit of giggles when she said this.

This was the last straw for Natsu, he grabbed his backpack and then stumped out of the house, grumbling about how much trouble women are. He walked through Magnolia, getting odd looks and the occasional laugh from the residents of the town.

Natsu walked into the forest and searched until he found a decent sized stream to clean off in. He took off his backpack and sword and leaned them up against a tree, careful to make sure he would have a clear line of sight to them the entire time. He searched for a few minutes for enough dry wood to make a fire and then dug a small fire pit. Placing the wood in the pit he called up his magic and started a nice little blaze in the pit.

While he waited for the fire to burn down into coals, he stripped off his clothes and placed them down on his backpack. He walked over to the stream and eased himself into the water, feeling the cold for a moment and then using his magic to heat up the water around him to a comfortable temperature. He got to the deepest part of the stream and settled down into the water, allowing it to wash away the anger and tension that the morning had built up.

After a while he dunked himself in the stream, cleaning off the remnants of the Strauss sibling's breakfast. Once there was no longer egg in his hair, he took a deep breath and slowly lowered himself into the water. A minute later he came up gasping for air, but with a good sized fish wriggling in his grip. He grinned at his success and made his way back up onto the shore. He used his magic to instantly dry off and carefully set the fish down where it couldn't wriggle away. He put on his clothes and then found a stick to make a spit for the fish, burning away the bark and making a sharp point. He spit the fish on it and stuck the end in the ground with the fish hanging over the fire.

He settled back against a tree and waited for the fish to cook. He thought about where he would go next once he beat Titania, never letting the thought of himself losing enter his mind. 'I guess I'll steer clear of the dark guilds, I need to find a new angle in the search for Igneel. But what haven't I tried in seven damn years?'

He slammed his fist back into the tree, breaking bark away and sending a shock through the tree, almost toppling it.

"Well well, seems like you're in something of a nasty mood."

Natsu jerked and spun around, cursing that his sword wasn't in his grasp. He saw Makarov standing serenely behind him.

"What do you want old man?"

Makarov looked down at him and smiled, "I have a proposition for you Natsu."

Natsu cautiously settled back against the tree and asked, "Like I said, what do you want?"

"I want you to join Fairy Tail."

Natsu burst out laughing at this, "Hey old man, I'm a wanted criminal remember? I don't think the council would really take kindly to that!"

Makarov also laughed, "Bah, screw the council, they don't know anything."

"Well yeah I agree with you, but if I join your guild they'll know exactly where I am and those damned rune knights will swoop in, and I'd rather not give the council any more reasons to up the bounty on my head."

"What if I convinced the council to give you a second chance, then would you join the guild?"

"I don't know, I mean, I still have to find Igneel."

"Well considering you haven't had much luck with that in the past, why not join a legal guild, take some jobs, make some money, move on with your life. If Igneel is the parent that you think he is, he'd want you to be happy, not stuck in the rut you seem to be in."

Natsu pondered his words for a little while, knowing that the old man was right but not wanting him to be. He put off having to make a decision by grabbing the fish, which was now done cooking, and biting into it, savoring the flavor of one of his favorite foods. He finally finished it and then sighed and said quietly, "I guess you're right old man." And then with more energy, "But, I have one condition."

"And what is that?"

"Titania has to beat me when we fight today, if she doesn't I'll be going my own way, but if she does beat me I'll join your guild."

Makarov laughed and said "Then you'd better start thinking about where you'd like your guild mark, I have every confidence in Erza."

Natsu snorted and said "Yeah we'll see about that."

Natsu grabbed his backpack and sword and followed the master back to Magnolia. He could feel his hands twitching the entire time he walked, eager to draw his sword and test himself against one of the strongest mages in Fiore. He tried to think of a few strategies to fight her, but in the end decided that he was just going to wing it.

After a bit they arrived at the guild, Makarov pushed open the doors and a wave of sound came out to pummel Natsu's ears. They walked in to see Fairy Tail as jubilant as ever, chatting, having fun, the occasional brawl sending somebody flying into the wall. Natsu made his way to the bar and saw Lisanna behind it cleaning a mug. She noticed him when he sat down and blushed, causing him to glower at her.

"Ummm… Natsu about this morning…"

Natsu cut her off before she could go on, "Just forget about it, I'm going to."

She smiled at him and said "Alright I can do that, although I don't think Mira can."

"What do you me…?"

Before Natsu could finish a loud voice sounded behind him, "Hey egghead, how's it going this morning?"

Natsu turned around with a murderous look on his face and saw Mirajane behind him with a huge grin on her face, "You're lucky I have to fight Titania today or I would clean your clock."

Mira gave a devilish smile, "What are you chicken? Think you need to save your energy to fight the tin can?"

Said tin can had just arrived at the guild and, overhearing Mirajanes comment, ran over and head butted Mirajane saying, "You want to go demon tramp?"

"I'll destroy you metal head!"

Natsu watched as they traded insults and soon came to blows. Erza sent Mira flying back into a pillar, but Mirajane came right back with a right hook that made Erza fly across the room and destroy a table.

Before Erza could retaliate and take the fight to the next level Natsu called out, "You know you still have to fight me Titania, why don't you save it for later, I don't want to beat you after you've already been beaten down by Mirajane."

Even though Natsu had only known Erza for a few days he knew exactly which buttons to press. Erza immediately turned her attention from Mirajane to Natsu, "Alright Salamander, let's go, right now, after I defeat you I shall return and defeat this demon hussy."

Natsu smiled and said, "Alright let's go."

The entire guild cheered and made its way outside to the street, eagerly awaiting the fight. A betting ring cropped up with Lisanna carefully taking down everyone's bets. Natsu noticed that about half the guild bet on him this time and grinned. He took off his backpack and slung it to Mirajane who caught it on reflex, "Hold that for me until I'm done here." He ignored the murderous look she gave him and stepped into the circle formed by the guild mages, focusing all of his attention on Erza.

He saw that she was also focusing on the fight and taking it seriously, 'Good, maybe we won't just screw around for a few minutes; we'll just go all out from the start.'

He heard the master come up and knew the fight was about to start so he drew his katana and settled it into a two handed grip, slipping his left foot forward and moving into his stance.

The master said "Begin."

Before Natsu could move Erza requipped into a new armor. The new armor was black, with red and orange trim. It had long gauntlets and long boots that looked vaguely like the limbs of a dragon. She wore a revealing chest piece and had a long red sword in her hand. He could hear the guild muttering.

"She's really taking this seriously."

"No way can that guy beat her now, not with flame attacks."

Natsu grinned and charged her, igniting his sword and swinging it around at Erza. She blocked his blow and a shockwave was created at the point of impact, pushing back the nearest spectators. He increased the heat and intensity of the flames on his sword, hoping that he could melt her sword like he had done with Erigor's scythe.

Erza smiled, expecting his trick, "This is my **Flame Empress Armor,** it reduces the effectiveness of your flames by half, you won't be melting this sword."

This ticked Natsu off, "Don't underestimate me."

He disengaged with a flourish and swiped low with his sword, making her jump back. He then shouted "**Roar of the Fire Dragon**" letting out a huge stream of fire that washed over Erza. He saw her dodge out of it before it could do any real damage and cut off the stream of fire, charging at her. However, as he was striking he heard a loud gong crash, which caused him to pause with his sword inches away from hers, which she had brought around to parry his strike.

Both of them turned to see a frog-like person, who had somehow caused the gong sound. The frog said in a female voice, "That's enough, everyone stay where you are. I am a messenger from the council."

Natsu could hear the guild mages murmuring but all his attention was focused on the council messenger, 'Shit how did they find me. The old man hasn't had time to talk to the council yet so I'm still a very wanted criminal, I may have to make myself scarce in a hurry.'

The messenger continued after making sure everyone was paying attention to her, "Stemming from recent Eisenwald incident, we hereby charge you with 11 counts of criminal property damage."

Natsu thought, 'Yep that's my queue to get out of here.'

"Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest."

There was silence in the street until Natsu burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he fell flat on his back and started rolling around, gasping for breath. The council messenger looked at him curiously, along with the rest of the guild, "Why are you laughing this is serious council business."

Natsu recovered and stood up, still shaking slightly, "Because you're arresting her! That's pretty damn funny."

The council messenger frowned, "I fail to see the humor in this situation."

Natsu grinned, "Well…" He suddenly moved, getting behind Erza in a flash, wrapping one arm around her waist and slanting his sword down over her shoulder across her chest. "You see, she's in the process of capturing a dangerous criminal at the moment."

He heard Erza mutter to him, "Salamander what in the hell are you doing."

He replied in an equally quiet voice, "Just go with it."

Louder he said, "I am the Salamander, and you were just the distraction I needed to make my escape." He laughed dramatically but threw a wink at Master Makarov. He raised his sword in the air and flames began to come off of it, spiraling around him and Erza. "Now I shall make good my escape!"

The flames soon surrounded him and Erza, and then in a flash were gone, along with the two, leaving nothing but a scorched mark on the ground.

Natsu and Erza reappeared in a large clearing in the forest near Magnolia. Erza immediately removed Natsu's arm from around her waist and turned around to face him, "What the hell was that Salamander! Now they'll think I was resisting arrest and fleeing!"

Natsu was bent over panting, trying to get his breath back, "Good god, that took so much out of me, I've never tried transporting two people using that."

"Don't ignore me Salamander!"

"Oh give it a rest, look they'll say that I kidnapped you and they might actually let you off the hook since you were in the process of catching a dangerous criminal."

Erza thought about it and said, "Why didn't you just let them take me?"

Natsu grinned, still trying to catch his breath, "Because I'm not done fighting you."

Erza gave him a serious look and said, "Very well, let us continue then."

Natsu held out his hand and said, "Give me a minute, that technique takes a lot out of me, especially because I was carrying two this time."

She sighed and sat down on a rock near her, "Very well, I shall give you two minutes, and then we will continue."

Natsu collapsed against the nearest tree and slowly got his breath back, Feeling some energy return to his limbs.

Erza actually gave him five minutes, not wanting to take advantage of his momentary weakness. After the five minutes Natsu got up and stretched saying, "Alright, I'm feeling ready for round two."

Erza also stood up and said, "Good, I'm not holding back."

Without another word they charged each other, Natsu with his flaming sword and Erza with her Flame Empress sword. They exchanged a flurry of blows, too fast for the untrained eye to follow and then disengaged. Natsu couldn't find a weakness in her swordplay, 'She is actually probably better than me with a sword, although I may have more raw power than her, time to get serious.'

He charged her shouting "**Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!**" When he reached her he brought his sword down in a vertical slash. She blocked but the flames from his sword expanded to envelop her entire body. When the flames began to dissipate he jumped back to see the results of his attack. Erza stood there, looking unhurt, although her armor was a bit singed. Natsu thought 'Hah, So my flames can damage her."

She said "I see that you're strong enough to get through my **Flame Empress Armor**, I shall have to try something different."

She shouted "**Requip: Heaven's Wheel!**" and light surrounded her. When it dissipated she was in her Heaven's Wheel armor, the silver armor with a plated skirt, and wings that looked to be made of blades. She cried **"Dance, my blades!**" and swords appeared behind her, spinning in a circle around her. Erza launched herself at Natsu with a cry, "**Circle Sword!**" sending the swords circling her flying towards Natsu.

He jumped into the air to avoid them as they impacted the ground, creating a large crater and sending a plume of dirt into the air. He lost sight of her and it was only when he caught her scent a moment later that he was able to bring up his sword to block her slash at him. He was however, sent flying backwards, impacting with a tree and gritting his teeth to hide his grunt of pain.

He saw Erza land on the ground and without a moment's hesitation he screamed "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" swinging his sword and creating a crescent shaped blast of flame that flew towards Erza. She saw it coming and brought her sword around in an attemp to dissipate the blast. She was only partially successful; not letting the flames hit her but the force of the blast knocking her over.

Natsu seized the advantage and pushed off the tree launching himself at the downed Erza. He thrust at her but she was able to deflect it and his sword pierced the ground, six inches away her body. He had landed straddling her and took one hand off the sword shouting "**Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon**" igniting his fist and punching down at her face. Before he could impact however, he felt her foot come around and kick him in the back of the head, sending him flying away from her.

Natsu flipped around while he was flying through the air and used his hand to slow himself down, coming to a rest near the edge of the clearing. He could see that Erza had gotten up and was charging at him, but more importantly his sword was behind her and without it he lost much of his offensive capabilities. He quickly brought his hands up around his mouth and shouted "**Roar of the Fire Dragon!**" and sent a stream of flame at Erza.

She reacted as he predicted and dodged. Instead of swinging around trying to hit her, he cut off the stream and darted to his sword, dodging a swipe from Erza and reaching it, pulling it out of the ground and turning to face Erza.

"Ahh that last attack wasn't meant to hit me, it was supposed to distract me and give you an opening to recover your sword."

"It wouldn't be a fair fight if you weren't smart enough to figure that out."

"You're good Salamander, better than I wanted to admit, we're fairly even."

"Well there's only one way to find out who's better."

With that Natsu again launched himself at Erza, sending a flurry of blows at her. She easily blocked him but it had been a feint, he dropped down low and swept his leg out sending her crashing to the ground. Before she could recover Natsu had leapt high into the air.

He began chanting, "**With a flaming right hand, and with a flaming left hand,**" his hands igniting, and then those flames flowing into his sword, not just setting it on fire, but making it become a sword of fire, "**Piercing Blaze of the Fire Dragon!**" He sent his fiery sword at Erza, who was still lying on the ground. He watched as light surrounded her as she desperately requipped into another set of armor but he smiled, 'Too late, no armor is going to help you block that attack!'

He watched as his sword impacted and a huge explosion of flame enveloped Erza. He dropped down and landed lightly on the ground as the flames dissipated. He was greeted not with the sight of a defeated Erza, but with the sight of a giant shield, with his sword sticking halfway through it, scorch marks surrounding where it had pierced the shield. He watched slack jawed as the shield's came apart, and Erza stood up. His sword dropped to the ground, back to its original obsidian, and Erza stood there, wearing blue armor that covered her from head to toe and holding two halves of her massive shield on either arm.

"I commend you for that attack; I was barely able to defend against it, even with my **Adamantine Armor**. Your sword nearly pierced my shield."

"What the hell is that armor?"

"This armor increases my defensive power immeasurably, I'm surprised you were able to damage it, but now this ends."

She shouted "**Requip: Black Wing Armor!**" Light surrounded her and then disappeared. She was dressed in revealing black armor, with wings and a black sword clenched in one hand.

Natsu was determined not to give up even after she had survived his massive attack. As she launched himself at him, he ignited his fist and shouted "**Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon**" and charged at her. They collided in midair a massive explosion erupted from their collision. When the dust settled, Erza was seen standing over Natsu, breathing heavily. Natsu however, was laying on the ground, unconscious after being defeated by the Fairy Queen, Titania Erza Scarlet.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Hi guys. Just giving you and update on how this is going. A lot of people have been calling for NaZaMi even though I had originally only intended it to be NaZa. I'm not actually planning this story out, just kind of writing it as I go so i'm just following the creative part of my brain. If I do end up changing the pairing it won't be a harem. It will be a normal pairing, i'm just not sure what the pairing is actually going to be anymore. Some people we're also unsatisfied with the way Natsu and Erza's fight went. The whole point of it was to show that he's not all powerful, he does make mistakes like getting to cocky. Also it would kind of mess up the premise of the story if he won, so... Alright, I'll let everyone get on to the next chapter!**

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><p>Natsu slowly awoke, surrounded by soft sheets and hearing soft murmurs nearby. He kept his breathing steady as he slowly regained consciousness, wondering exactly where he was. After a while he was alert enough to understand the soft whispers coming from the corner of the room. He perfectly imitated his unconscious state as he listened to what was being said.<p>

"Come on Master this isn't fair, how could you let someone like him join our guild?" Erza's voice was the first he picked out.

"He is a strong young man who went down the wrong path, in Fairy Tail he can make amends for his past wrongs." This was the old man speaking.

"You still could have told me about the deal."

"And what would you have done, thrown the fight just so he would leave? You have more pride than that Erza."

"I know, but now I have to listen to that jackass every day." Natsu could imagine the annoyed look and he couldn't help it anymore, he gave a soft chuckle and opened his eyes, "Awwww, Scarlet I didn't know you cared."

He saw her swiftly move to the side of his bed and rap the top of his head with her gauntleted hand, "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know that you're not too happy with the deal gramps and I made." He said as he rubbed his head.

"I hardly see why we should let a known criminal like you into our guild."

"Well you beat me didn't you? Think of this as my revenge."

She looked at him and her look said that she wanted to do nothing more than send him flying across the room with a good right hook, but she refrained from taking out her frustrations on him and instead left the room, slamming the door on her way out.

The master walked over to his bed and said, "You probably shouldn't try and make her angry like that, she won't hesitate to beat you again."

"Eh, she wouldn't have beaten me last time if I hadn't gotten overconfident and tried to be dramatic in front of that council guy. I used up too much energy with that flash transportation spell."

"I see, so subconsciously you wanted Erza to beat you so you could join Fairy Tail." Natsu could see the mischievous glint in the old man's eyes.

"Shut up old man, you don't know anything. She got lucky, it won't happen again." Natsu grumbled at him. He slid out of bed and found his clothes, noticing that they'd been laundered and the holes in them stitched up. He found his sword and buckled it on.

The old man grinned, "Time to go meet all your new guild mates Natsu my boy!"

"I already met them old man."

"But you weren't a Fairy Tail mage at the time! Plus Erza is the only one who knows about the deal so now we get to go tell all them."

Natsu gave him a glare and said, "Fine, old man let's just get this over with."

Natsu followed Makarov out of the infirmary and down the hallway that led to the main hall of Fairy Tail. Chaos greeted them, granted it was the normal Fairy Tail chaos, but Natsu never thought he would get used to having to dodge flying chairs, mugs, and bodies every time he wanted to get a drink. He went to the bar with Makarov and was surprised to find a very grumpy looking Mirajane behind it. Makarov told him to go sit down by the bar as he had to grab something from his office, so he went and sat down next to Lisanna, who was talking to her sister.

"Yo, Mirajane, can I get a shot of your strongest liquor?"

Mirajane gave him a nasty look, "No, you can't, you're the reason I'm back here in the first place."

Natsu stared at her incredulously, "What the hell did I do, I've been unconscious for the past… hey how long was I out?"

Lisanna giggled, "You've only been out for a day. It is kind of your fault that she's back there though. When you threw your backpack at her to hold during the fight, let's just say she didn't like the way you asked her to hold it, so she ummmm, she had Reedus paint a picture of your face, stuck it to the backpack and used it as target practice, it's pretty much gone. Master found out about it and made her work the bar all day today as punishment."

Natsu turned back to Mirajane after hearing what Lisanna had said, "What the hell Mira! I had valuable stuff in there!"

She smiled at him evilly, "Well that'll teach you not to order me around, plus I was still angry about the ruckus you caused yesterday morning."

Natsu exclaimed, "I was the injured party in that situation! You're going to have to replace all my stuff you know that right?"

"Like hell I am, there wasn't much in there anyways."

"Maybe I'll go burn some of your stuff until you replace mine."

"You're about to get a beating flame brain, I don't care if you just got out of the infirmary?"

"Bring it; I could beat you with both hands tied behind my back."

With that, Mirajane launched herself over the bar, tackling Natsu out of the chair. As they were falling backwards, Natsu used his momentum to twist around and throw Mirajane away from him, right into the table where Erza, Gray, and Lucy were sitting, watching everything happen. As Mirajane hit the table it exploded, knocking all the drinks, and more importantly, Erza's cake flying. The entire guild watched in astonishment as the events unfolded and then everyone slowly looked back to where Natsu was standing, grinning nervously at the Erza, Gray, and Mirajane giving him murderous looks.

"Hey now, she started it, I was only defending myself."

Before he knew it his feet were frozen in ice, Erza's sword was at his throat, and Mirajane was hauling back her fist to hit him in the face. He was relieved when he heard a booming voice say, "Stop! Is this how you treat the newest member of our guild?"

The entire guild went silent and then a collective, "WHAT!" went up from every member. Natsu took the initiative and said, "Yep that's right. Me and the old man made a deal, If Titania here beat me in our duel, I'd join Fairy Tail, and since she got lucky enough to win, here I am."

When he said this the reaction in the guild was actually more positive than he had hoped, a lot of them cheered and rushed up pushing the Erza, Mirajane, and Gray out of the way. Cana challenged him to another drinking contest. Elfman roared something about him being a man. Even Lucy was there, smiling and saying how much fun it would be to have him in the guild.

Natsu was mildly overwhelmed by the reaction and said, "Whoa guys, not so fast, I'm still trying to get used to it myself."

By this time his feet were unfrozen so he backed up from everybody and yelled, "Alright alright, dang, go back to drinking guys, it's not that special."

Everybody ignored him and instead of going back to the normal chaos of Fairy Tail, a party broke out, nearly doubling the chaos level. He let everyone throw their party and walked back over to the bar where Makarov sat, "Alright old man, I want my guild mark on my right arm."

Makarov smirked and said, "I told you you'd have to think about where you wanted it."

Natsu glared at him and growled, "Bah, just get it over with."

Makarov looked at Lisanna and said, "Please do the honors, Lisanna."

She took out the stamp and asked, "What color would you like it?"

"Red, definitely red."

She pressed the stamp onto his skin and held it there for a few seconds, when it was done she took it away and there was his new guild mark, standing out starkly from his skin. "Damn this feels weird, being part of a legitimate guild." He muttered.

He was startled when Gray came up next to him and said, "Yeah it feels weird having you here ash for brains, but now that you're in, I want to fight. Since you got beat down by Erza, I know I'm stronger than you!"

Natsu grinned and said, "Oh you're so on stripper."

He then swung his fist, punching Gray in the face and sending him flying back into Elfman, who crashed into Loke, which set off a chain reaction of flying fists and bodies. Natsu grinned, glad that he could jump into the fray this time around. He did just that with a flying kick that was interrupted by another body crashing into him.

The guild dissolved into a brawl, and when the brawl was over went back to partying the night away. Natsu got to know all of his new guild mates a bit better. Macao and Wakaba asked him about whether his reputation got him many women with lecherous smiles. Before he could answer they had been knocked out by Erza, grumbling about indecency. He arm wrestled with most of the guys in the guild, winning the last round against Elfman. Elfman screamed something about men needing to defending their honor, and launched himself at Natsu, starting another guild wide brawl.

This went on late into the night, everyone having fun except Erza and Mirajane, who both stalked angrily around the guild, only stopping to fight each other. Natsu immensely enjoyed the party and when everyone was too exhausted to go on, collapsed onto the nearest surface like the rest of the guild and immediately fell asleep.

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><p>He woke up to the smell of coffee in the morning. He slowly sat up from where he was slumped over a table and looked around. Most of the guild was still passed out in various places around the guild. He turned towards the bar and saw Lisanna behind it preparing coffee. He got up and stumbled over to the bar, feeling the effects of the fighting last night, if not the effects of the alcohol.<p>

He sat down at the bar and said, "How on earth are you up this early, that was a crazy party last night."

Lisanna smiled at him and said, "I left about halfway through, I don't normally stay until the end because I have to come to the guild early and open the bar early for all those who need to recuperate in the morning." As she said this she poured him a cup of coffee and set it down in front of him.

"Thanks, you're a life saver."

"No troubles, I have to look after my guild mates after all."

Natsu smiled and took a sip of the coffee, it was so hot that it would have scalded anybody else's tongue but to him it was just the right temperature. As he sat at the bar enjoying his coffee, the doors flew open and Erza walked in, looking no worse for wear from last night. She grunted when she saw Natsu sitting at the bar, but went over and sat down at the other end of the bar saying, "Lisanna, please bring me some strawberry cake."

The white haired girl nodded and went back to the kitchen to get Erza her favorite treat. Natsu chuckled and called over to her, "You're starting with the sweet's pretty early aren't you Scarlet?"

She glared over at him but before she could snap at him in reply, Master Makarov had come in and said, "Good you're both here, I need you both to come to my office."

Natsu looked at him curiously, "What's the problem old man?" But Makarov had already turned and was headed back to his office. Natsu got up with a grumble and followed him, noticing that Erza did as well.

They reached his office to find him already sitting down behind his desk with an angry look on his face. "Like I said, what's the problem old man?" Natsu asked again.

"The problem is that the council still wants to charge Erza for the Eisenwald incident, and they want to charge you as well, now that they've found you."

Natsu jumped up and said, "Hey I thought you were going to get the council to back off."

Makarov sighed and said, "It isn't that simple, they still want to have a trial to show that they're enforcing the laws of Fiore, but I put enough pressure on my Council friends and they've agree that you can join Fairy Tail on probation under the supervision of an S-class mage."

Natsu shrugged and said, "Well that seems simple enough, show up to the trial, let them pronounce me guilty and then come back here."

Makarov chuckled, "Well, they'll probably throw you in jail for a day or two but it won't be that bad, you'll have Erza to keep you company."

Erza looked aghast at his statement, "What do you mean Master?"

"Well they'll be charging you for the Eisenwald incident, but it's the same thing as Natsu's trial is, a show trial. You however won't have to be on probation, but they still might throw you in jail for a day."

Natsu and Erza looked at each other, horrified, and said, "But, separate cells right!"

The master chuckled, "Consider a bonding experience, now you both have to be at the council in a few hours, so clean up, and get over there!"

Both Erza and Natsu grumbled and left his office. When they reached the main hall, Natsu stopped frowning. He thought to himself, 'Damn, I don't have a place to go clean up, and that bitch Mira torched my extra set of clothes.'

Erza looked at him frowning, "What are you doing, go get cleaned up for the council, you're lucky to be joining this guild so now that you're representing it you have to look your best!"

Natsu gave her an angry look, "Get cleaned up where, and look my best in what? These are the only clothes I own, since Mirajane destroyed my other set, and this is my first day in town so I don't exactly have a place to go." Natsu then frowned also saying, "She also destroyed all my money, so I can't even buy new clothes! Damn I'm gonna have to give her a beating."

Erza frowned at him and looked extremely conflicted before finally saying, "Come, you shall clean yourself up at my place." She then began striding purposefully towards the door.

Natsu stood rooted to the ground for a moment, stunned by her statement, but then a grin spread over his face as he hurried to catch up with her. He did so and then said, "Awww you're just a big softie aren't you Scarlet." He wasn't prepared for the fist that smacked him in the jaw and sent him into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>He was woken from his unconsciousness just a roughly as he had been put there, with a gauntleted hand slapping him into wakefulness, "Get up Salamander, you don't have much time to clean up so you'd better hurry."<p>

Natsu shook his head to get rid of the cobwebs and looked around, finding himself in the middle of an incredibly long room. Either way he looked, suits of armor and weapons hung on stands. He was suddenly hauled to his feet by Erza, and dragged over towards a large bathroom. She flung him inside with the words, "You have ten minutes, clean up, and don't do anything indecent!"

The door slammed and he was alone in the bathroom. He shook his head at the ridiculousness that was the entire situation and went about his business. He unbuckled his sword and shed his clothes, carefully leaning his sword in the corner but haphazardly throwing his clothes around the room. He stepped into the shower, turning it too the hottest setting and reveling in it as the spray hit his back, soothing his aching muscles. He looked for soap around and realized there was nothing but girly soaps and shampoos in the bathroom. He shrugged and sniffed each one, picking the one with the least powerful scent. He cleaned himself and shut the water off. He didn't bother with a towel, using his magic to instantly dry himself off.

He put on his old clothes, thankful that someone had cleaned them while he was out. He carefully settled his scarf around his neck, knowing that Natsu grabbed his sword and buckled it back on and then walked out of the bathroom. Erza was dressed in her normal armor, skirt, and boots and was impatiently tapping her foot as the stood next to the door. She saw him walk out of the bathroom and snapped, "You're done? Good, let's go we can't keep the council waiting."

She grabbed his wrist and drug him out the door. He was surprised to find that they were in a dormitory as she dragged him down the hall and into the lobby before finally making it out the front door. She continued to drag him down the path but he looked back and saw that the name of the dorm was Fairy Hills. He asked her, "So is that the Fairy Tail dorm? Can I get a room there?"

She let go of his wrist but kept walking saying, "It's a girls only dorm, there isn't a boys dorm so you'll have to rent a house in town."

Natsu shrugged and hurried to follow her. They went and met with the council representative that was in town and he took them into custody, placing magic restraining cuffs on their wrists. The froglike man also took Natsu's sword, which angered him but he didn't resist. They were put in a carriage that took them to the Magic Council's Fiore branch. Natsu spent most of the ride moaning in the corner of the carriage, trying not to puke on the scarlet haired mage and get her mad at him. After a few hours of torture they arrived at the Magic council, Natsu scrambling out of the carriage and falling over onto the ground. His relief was short lived as, even with cuffed hands, Erza was able to reach down and grab him by the back of his collar and drag him towards the building.

After a moment he was able to yank himself from her grasp and growl, "I can walk thank you very much, I just needed a moment to recover."

She smirked and said, "The great Salamander, defeated by a mere carriage."

He gave her a murderous look but didn't say anything, having no comeback. They followed the council messenger into the building, through some hallways, and up some stairs before they emerged in a corridor lined with large pillars. They had only gone a few steps down it when they saw a man leaning against one of the pillars. He wore white pants and a long white coat. The tattoo on the right side of his face around his eye was only partially hidden by his brilliant blue hair. When the group noticed him, Erza stopped walking, a look of shock on her face. She gasped, "Siegrain!"

The council messenger immediately got down on his knees, bowing before one of the council. He walked up to the group and said with a cocky smile, "Long time no see, Erza." Natsu watched as she tensed herself, looking like she wanted to attack him. He continued, "Don't be so on guard, this is a thought projection, my body is in Era. The old men in there are also all thought projections. It's not like they'd come all the way here for such a trivial matter."

Erza replied gratingly, "I see."

Siegrain turned to Natsu, "And this must be the Salamander, all those years of crime have finally caught up to you I see."

Natsu frowned at him, "You look really familiar; in fact you look exactly like a guy that tried to kill me a few years ago."

Siegrain paused and looked at him more carefully, "That must have been my twin brother, Jellal, he was always the reckless one in the family."

Natsu slowly nodded his head, sensing the half-truth but not understanding its meaning, "Sure, I guess."

Siegrain turned back to Erza and put a hand under her chin, with his thumb under her bottom lip, forcing her eyes up to meet him. He whispered so that Natsu wouldn't hear but with his enhanced senses he picked it up anyway, "I came here to warn you, say nothing of the past to the old men." She shook her head, forcing his hand away but saying nothing. He walked towards the doors that led to the council chambers and said, "I'll be waiting on the other side of the door, as a member of the council." With that, his thought projection flickered out and they were alone again in the hallway with the council messenger.

Natsu looked at Erza, "Wow, that is a nasty guy, what sort of past do you and him have?"

Erza didn't reply to his question, only saying, "That man is evil."

Natsu didn't press her further, and so they followed the council representative into the room and to their trial.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Erza and Natsu sat in a cold stone cell, devoid of any furnishings. They sat against opposite walls, both with folded arms, neither talking to each other. Natsu finally broke the silence, "Well it wasn't too bad, the council seemed to be angrier at you than at me."<p>

Erza sighed and said, "They don't really care about you, they just want to use me as a scapegoat."

"Well that works for me, every instinct I have screams at me to break out of here though, this really sucks."

"It's your own damn fault, you're a criminal! You were going to end up in a cell eventually."

Natsu grinned, "Hey I'm a reformed criminal, and the council never would have caught me, their rune knights are way too weak and I always got away from the bounty hunters they sent after me."

Erza grunted, not having a reply, and they lapsed into a tense silence once again. A while later, they heard footsteps coming down the hall, and when Natsu sniffed the air he stiffened, recognizing the scent. Erza noticed and said, "What did you just get so tense for?"

He quickly replied, "Well you know how a lot of people have tried to kill me right? One of those people, and one of the people who came closest, is coming down the hallway."

Before either one of them could say anything, a beautiful woman appeared in front of their cell. She had long, dark purple hair and wore a simple white dress, with a gold belt around her middle. She saw Natsu sitting against the wall and flashed him a brilliant smile, "Natsu, it's been far too long."

Natsu surprised Erza by standing up and giving her a grin before bowing, "Ultear, I was surprised to see you on the council today, times have been treating you well."

Ultear also surprised Erza by giggling, "Oh Natsu, I get along, I'm much more interested in how you got roped into joining Fairy Tail."

Natsu sighed but never dropped his smile, "I made a stupid bet and lost, it looks like I'll be in Fairy Tail for the long run, seeing as how this guild isn't likely to be destroyed by simply crumbling into dust."

Ultear's smile become slightly more carnivorous, "Ahhhh, the good old days, I remember them fondly."

Natsu replied, "I don't quite remember them as fondly as you do, having half of a tree driven through one's leg really puts a damper on the fondness."

Ultear winked at him, "You're so cute when you pout, I've always liked that about you."

"What do you want Ultear."

It was her turn to pout, "I can't check on an old acquaintance that's been thrown in jail?"

"Well if we were better acquainted I'd say you could, but we're not so you can't."

"It's your fault that we're not better acquainted you know." She gave him a sly smile and another wink, "I'm just here to make sure the past stays in the past."

Natsu finally lost his smile, "Whatever Ultear, I won't say anything, now go away."

Without another word, but not before flashing him another wink, she turned and left.

Natsu sat back down against the wall, his face looking thunderously angry. Erza couldn't overcome her curiosity and eventually asked him, "What was that all about? How do you know one of the council members, and why on earth was she flirting with you?"

Natsu's face lost its angry look and he sighed, "I can't tell you, didn't you hear? I just promised not to say anything."

Erza thought about it and then said, "If you want to truly join Fairy Tail, you should come clean about your past."

Natsu gave her an amused look, "Like you've come clean about yours. I'm sure you've told absolutely everyone about Siegrain and Jellal and how they figure into your past."

Erza was silent, knowing that what he said was true and so not pushing him further on the subject. Natsu sighed and then said, "Ah what the hell it's not like it will matter if I tell you, there's not much that can be done about it anyways."

Erza perked up and looked at him expectantly. Natsu continued, "Well, about three years ago I was in this dark guild called Empty Night, we were one of the lower level guilds in the Balam Alliance, with Grimoire Heart as our overall head guild. This was before I had made a really big name for myself so I was pretty low level in the guild. The master and the guild ace had been out on a job and come back, saying how they had done a big job for Grimoire Heart and that the guild was going to be promoted in the ranks of the alliance. So we're all sitting around when in walks Ultear, announcing that she is part of Grimoire Heart and wants to see the Master."

Natsu could see that Erza wanted to interrupt but he shook his head and continued.

"So of course the Master comes and takes her to his office, and after a while the entire building began to shake, like they were having a fight. Well in about two minutes the entire building had just, dissolved, the whole thing just freaking fell apart. The roof caved in and came crashing down, pretty much crushing everybody in the guild except me. I was quick enough to burn through the wood that would have fallen on me and got out as fast as I could. I looked back and the whole damn guild was just a pile of rubble, with Ultear standing in the middle of it."

This time Erza did interrupt saying, "How the hell did a member of Grimoire Heart get on the Magic Council?"

Natsu shrugged and said, "Beats me, now shut up and let me finish. Anyways she looks around and see's that I'm the only one that got out of the guild. She walks over to me with this real vicious smile and says…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Well well, it looks like one of the little flies was strong enough to escape after all."<em>

_Natsu stood there with his sword drawn and said, "What the hell do you want lady."_

_Ultear glared and him and said, "Introduce yourself properly when conversing with your betters." She held out her hand and it twitched. Before Natsu knew what was going on a large green orb had appeared in her hand and streaked towards his head. He jerked his head aside, barely able to dodge it, but was unprepared for when it came back. It hit him in the back of his head knocking him to the ground on his hands and knees._

"_That's much better, now introduce yourself boy."_

_He looked up at her and said, "I am Natsu Dragneel, a former member of Empty Night."_

_She gave him a smile and said, "That's much better, I am Ultear Milkovich, leader of the Seven kin of Purgatory._

_A hint of fear flashed across his face as he thought, 'Oh shit, those guys are serious heavyweights, I better get the hell out of here.' He carefully replied, "Well, seeing as how your business is done here, I think I will just be on my way."_

_Ultear chuckled bending over slightly to emphasize her cleavage, "Not so fast boy, I like the look of you, I think I'm going to take you with me."_

_Natsu gulped and said, "I think that's one honor I will have to decline, I've got pressing business elsewhere."_

_She just chuckled again, "At an age where my feminine charms aren't so effective I see. Well I'm sure that will change in a few years," Her look hardened, "Come with me now boy."_

_Natsu didn't reply, instead shouting "__**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**__" swinging his sword one handed and sending a rather weak blast of flame at Ultear. He got up and sprinted away not looking back to check whether she was following, hoping that he had distracted her enough to give him a good head start. He was about to enter the nearby forest when he felt an uncomfortable sensation between his shoulder blades and juked left. The strange orb went whizzing past him and collided with a tree, shattering it with the force of the blow. While not being hit by the orb, a jagged piece of the shattered tree flew towards him and pierced his thigh. _

_He faltered but didn't stop, limping as fast as he could away from the woman. He looked back to see that he had lost sight of her. He hoped that she'd made the mistake of taking it slow, knowing that he was wounded. He didn't think she could scent track him, so if he was out of her sight he was sure he could get away. He headed towards where he knew a river was, as fast as he could on his injured leg. He could feel blood running down it but he didn't have time to check and see how bad the wound was. _

_He came up to the river and looked back, making sure that she wasn't immediately behind him. He gritted his teeth and jumped into the river, the shock of the cold water on his wound nearly pushed him over the edge to unconsciousness. He didn't dare use his magic to heat the water in case she could track him that way. He let the river carry him a ways until he saw what he was looking for. It was a hidden cave that could only be found if one was actually in the river, impossible to see from the banks. He swam as fast as he could towards it with and pulled himself out, groaning as his leg barely worked from the wound and then the cold. _

* * *

><p>"I sat in that damn cave for three days. I took that damn tree trunk out of my leg and bandaged it up with what was left of my shirt. Luckily I was able to catch a fish so I didn't starve, but I didn't move out of that cave for three days. I could barely move anyways when I got out. I stumbled around until I found a town, they took me in, treated me, and a few days later I left in the middle of the night. I've seen her once more since then. I was a lot stronger by then so she didn't try and take me by force, but she did flirt shamelessly with me. "<p>

They both sat silently in the cell after his story. Erza spoke first, "I'm surprised you didn't go with her, she's a beautiful woman who is obviously interested."

Natsu shuddered, "No way, I'm not that desperate, that woman may be beautiful, but she's also insane. You haven't heard the stories that go around about the Seven Kin." He shuddered again, "My moral standards aren't even that high and they give me the creeps, and she's the freaking leader."

Erza smirked at him, "It looks like you at least have some common sense then."

"Hey, don't comment on my love life, most dark guilds are full of men, there isn't much chance of meeting many ladies. Besides when you do, they're just as likely to try and kill you as sleep with you."

Erza glared at him, "Pervert."

"Bah, at least I don't have a stripping problem like Gray."

"True, but try anything indecent with my guild mates, and I will beat you so hard you won't be able to leave the infirmary for a month."

Natsu gave her a grin, "Hey, what if they try something indecent with me?"

Erza got a superior look on her face, "The women of Fairy Tail are much too intelligent to try anything like that with a criminal, even if he is a reformed criminal."

Natsu got a depressed look on his face, "You know if I'm going to be in your guild you could at least act like you don't think I'm the scum of the earth."

This didn't earn him any sympathy from her, "Prove that you aren't and then maybe we'll see."

They sat silently in the cell the rest of the day. They eventually fell into an uncomfortable sleep on the stone floors of the council prison. In the morning they were released and placed onto a carriage, along with their taken possessions, headed back to Magnolia. Natsu suffered his usual motion sickness, and when they arrived he clambered out of the cart as fast as he could. He then found himself standing with Erza in front of the guild. He thought to himself, 'Well, looks like it's time to actually start a new life here, I hope this one lasts a while, most of these Fairy's aren't so bad.'


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu sat at the bar with a disgruntled look on his face. It was the day after he had gotten back from prison with Erza, and he had had decided to go on a job, seeing as how he didn't have any money or a place to stay. However, when he attempted to take a job the Master had broken some unpleasant news to him.

"I seriously need an S-class mage to go with me? How am I ever going to go on a job?" Natsu grumbled.

Makarov stroked his mustache, deep in thought, "That's the terms of the probation the Magic Council agreed too. Now lets see, we have five S-class mages: Erza and Mira you already know, there is also Laxus, Mystogan, and Gildarts. We haven't seen Gildarts in a few years so he probably couldn't go with you, Mystogan never works with anybody, and Laxus has the Raijinshuu already."

Natsu looked stricken, "So you're saying the only people I can get to go out on jobs with me are Mirajane and Titania?"

Makarov nodded gravely, "Seems like it."

Natsu collapsed onto the bar holding his head in his hands, "That's it, I'm doomed to live a life of poverty, I'll never be able to take a job."

Makarov gave a hearty laugh, "Well we can't have that now, I can always make one of them go out on jobs with you. So, who do you want as your new team mate?"

Natsu laughed as well, "No way in hell am I going to choose, either one of them is going to be hell to work with if you force them to team up with me."

The Master looked serious for a moment but then got a devilish smile on his face, "Well then, I shall just have to choose for you, and I choose…" Makarov's smile got even bigger, "Erza."

Natsu looked stunned before a panicked look crossed his face, "Oh come on Master, she'll kill me within a day! She hates me! I changed my mind, I choose Mirajane."

Makarov just cackled, "It's too late brat! Anyway this will be good for both of you, she will keep a check on your more… destructive tendencies, and maybe you'll get her to loosen up a bit." He then turned and called Erza over to them, explaining the situation after she had taken a seat at the bar.

She took the news calmly enough, making Natsu think that it might not be so bad after all. He was sorely mistaken when she said, "Very well, but Gray shall also come with me so that when the Salamander decides to revert back to his old ways he cannot catch me off guard."

Her complete distrust of him barely fazed the Dragon Slayer, "Well now that that's settled, pick a job, because Mirajane burned all my money and I kind of need some so that I can find a place to stay."

Before Erza could reply to him however, Lisanna came running down the stairs shouting, "Master, one of the requests on the second floor has disappeared." This news, not too shocking in Natsu's opinion, made Makarov spit out his drink. The guild immediately was in an uproar over this news, leaving Natsu extremely confused.

He leaned over to Erza and whispered, "Why is it such a big deal that a request from the second floor is gone?" This action, rather than leading to the answers he sought, got him a gauntleted fist to the face. The blow knocked him out of his chair and onto the ground, where he stayed for a moment trying to figure out just exactly where he was.

When he regained his senses and rose to take his seat back Erza finally answered him, "It is a big deal that a request from upstairs is missing because all the requests upstairs are S-class quests. There are only two S-class mages at the guild at the moment, Mira and I, and neither of us has taken an S-class quest. This means that someone who isn't S-class has taken one without permission and must be punished."

Everyone was still trying to figure out who had taken the request. Lisanna said to the Master, "It was here last night when I locked up so someone must have snuck in and taken it, it's the quest to help Galuna island."

When Natsu heard this he spoke up, "Well, Gray was sneaking around the guild last night after everyone left." He suddenly felt all the eyes in the guild beating against him, "What? I was sleeping in one of the trees near the front of the guild and I saw him and Lucy sneaking around outside. Gray went in and a few minutes later came out and then they left."

The guild was silent for a few moments and then angry yells broke out.

"Those two idiots, how did he convince Lucy to go?"

"It is not man to sneak around at night."

The master looked troubled, "This is not good. Erza, you must go and bring them back at once!"

A dark aura surrounded Erza that promised horrible things to whoever had caused it. She didn't bother to answer, just stood up began stomping towards the door. Natsu watched her go and then realized that his chances of getting a job plummeted drastically when she left so he hopped up and ran after her. He caught up and began walking beside her, not saying anything in case she decided to turn her wrath on him. They got to the train station before she even noticed him.

"What are you doing Salamander, I have to bring those two back."

"Well, seeing as how we're a team now I figured I'd go with you." Natsu flashed her a smile but it didn't affect her.

"We aren't a team I'm just being forced to work with you."

Natsu sighed and said in an even tone, "Well whatever, the point is I don't feel like sleeping in a tree for however long it takes you to come back and go on a mission with me, so I'm coming along."

She gave him an angry look, "Fine, but if you even think about stabbing me in the back I will throw you back in the council jail myself."

Natsu didn't reply, just took his ticket and stepped onto the train, feeling the familiar nausea of motion sickness begin to overtake him. 'Great, a train ride with an angry woman, who really really doesn't like me. Why am I doing this again?'

* * *

><p>When Natsu and Erza finally got off the train they were in the port town of Hargeon. They walked into town and Erza said to him, "Alright our first order of business is to find a ship to take us to Galuna Island."<p>

Natsu frowned at her, "Hell no, we're swimming, it can't be that far away, and I'm not getting on any more transportation." This only earned him a fist to the back of the head.

"We have to get there as fast as possible, and a ship is the best way to do that."

She walked off and Natsu followed, rubbing the back of his head, 'One of these days she's going to regret doing that.' They went down to the port but had no luck getting a ship that would take them to the Island.

"Hah, it looks like we're swimming after all!" Natsu said triumphantly.

"Not a chance." Erza growled, she walked up to the largest ship in the port, the only one they hadn't checked yet. Natsu had the sneaking suspicion that it was a pirate masquerading as an honest merchant just to have some port time but he didn't say anything. They made their way up the gangplank attached to the dock and saw the captain and crew, 'Yep, definitely pirates." He thought. The entire crew had a tough look to them, carrying swords and dressing in a roguish fashion.

Erza confidently walked onto the ship and said, "We're seeking passage to Galuna Island."

The entire crew stopped working and looked at her, bursting out laughing at her proclamation. The captain stepped forward and said, "Look missy, we don't take passengers, so get off my ship."

Erza refused, "This is the last ship in the harbor that we've been too. You will take us to Galuna Island."

An air of tension was beginning to brew on the ship as the crew began fingering the hilts of their weapons. "And what happens if we don't, little girl." The captain growled.

Natsu decided to take matters into his own hands because he could see where the situation was headed. He shot forward, picked up the captain by the front of his shirt and slammed him back against the mast. He leaned in and whispered, "Look punk, I know exactly what you are and what you're doing here, so if you don't want your ship blown to oblivion and your crew beaten up I'd suggest listening to the lady of there." To emphasize his point he held up his other fist and set it on fire, causing the captain to gape and then finally give in.

He walked back over to Erza with a smile on his face, which was quickly wiped away by the fact that the ship was beginning to move out of port. She frowned at him, "You know you can't just threaten to harm people to get what you want."

He sat down against the side of the boat before answering, "That's where that was headed and I didn't feel like waiting, besides these guys are pirates, the only thing they'll listen to is force, and if you'd been the one doing the negotiating, we'd be sailing this ship ourselves."

She ignored him and went up to where the wheel was, leaving him to a long day of trying not to puke his guts out over the side of the ship.

* * *

><p>They arrived at the island late at night. With some, rather violent persuasion, Erza and Natsu convinced the pirates to stay where they were and then transport them back when all was said and done. They took the rowboat and went to the island, wasting no time in finding the village that, besides the large ruins on the other side of the island, was the only thing there. Erza walked up to the large wooden gate and pounded on it with an iron fist, "Hello! Please let us in!"<p>

A head popped out from the guard tower, "Who are you? What Business do you have?"

Natsu let Erza do the talking, "We are Fairy Tail mages; we've come looking for other Fairy Tail mages who are on this island."

"Ahhh, You must mean Gray and Lucy, please come in Lucy is here right now."

With that the gates slowly began to open up revealing a large crowd of demons standing near the gate with Lucy at the front. Lucy had a mildly frantic look on her face but before she could say anything Erza began to walk into the town and before she got a few steps, had suddenly disappeared into the ground with a loud "KYAA!"

Natsu ran over to where she had disappeared and saw her lying at the bottom of a small pit which had been camouflaged very well. He grinned and shouted down to her, "Damn Scarlet that was actually pretty cute."

He could see Lucy on the other side of the pitfall, the blonde mage was waving her hands muttering, "This is not my fault, this is so not my fault." Erza climbed out of the pit, her only reaction being a mild blush spread across her face. She marched over to Lucy and asked, "Where is Gray."

Lucy had a worried look on her face blurting out almost incomprehensibly, "I don't know, we were at the temple and we found a huge demon and Gray found a guy that he knew and they were fighting and I came back to warn the village that it was about to be attacked!"

Erza took it all in stride however and said, "I see, then we must search him out, and take him back," A dark aura surrounded her, "rule breakers must be punished."

Lucy looked terrified at this. Natsu however, heard an odd droning sound coming from the sky. Looking up he couldn't help but feel his jaw drop in awe, "Hey, guys, ummmm, there's a giant rat flying in the sky." He could make out three people on top, and it was holding a large bucket in its hands.

Everyone looked up and Lucy practically screamed, "That's the rat that attacked us earlier, and those are the people that Gray's friend told to destroy the village!"

Natsu smiled and cracked his knuckles, "Well it looks like I'm going to be getting some fighting done after all." A moment later he caught a familiar scent, and saw something slosh out of the bucket, and begin to fall towards the village. He saw it and froze thinking, 'There's no way they have that in the bucket.'

He watched as it plummeted to earth and seemed to be heading towards Lucy. Without a second thought he bounded forwards, tackling Lucy away from the falling green jelly-like substance. A moment later, he turned and saw the jelly land where Lucy had been standing, creating a small steaming crater in the earth. He rose up and pulled Lucy to her feet before shouting, "They've got a giant bucket of Nuke'em Jelly! They're going to drop it on the village!"

This caused quite a considerable panic as the flying rat was now almost over the city center. Natsu, thinking quickly shouted, "Everyone, get to the center of the town, NOW!"

Surprisingly everyone followed his orders, including Lucy. Erza however stared him down and quietly said, "What are you doing?" He didn't answer her, only grabbing her wrist and pulling her along to the city center with everybody else. He got there in the nick of time, as the bucket was just beginning to tip over. He told Erza, "Stay."

The entirety of the bucket of Nuke'em Jelly was headed towards the town, directly above where the inhabitants were now standing. Natsu moved to the center and tilted his head until his mouth was pointed straight upwards. He shouted, "**Roar of the Fire Dragon!**" and launched a huge stream of fire into the heart of the jelly. When they connected a huge explosion occurred. It wasn't big enough to engulf the entirety of the jelly, but it did blow the jelly outwards, causing it to rain down in a circle around the group of villagers, destroying most of the village, but saving its inhabitants.

When the dust cleared the villagers were standing on a plateau rising up out of a large crater where their village had once stood. The villagers began congratulating and thanking Natsu for saving the village but his attention was still focused on the giant rat. The enemy mages, seeing that their attack had failed, flew down on the back of the rat. Two men got off the back of it. The women stayed on and urged the rat to fly directly at the compact group of demon villagers. It did so and most of them dove out of the way to avoid its claws. Lucy however was unlucky, as she ended up clutched in its grasp as it began gaining altitude and flying away.

The villagers began to scramble off the plateau and away from the approaching mages. Erza looked at Natsu and said, "Salamander, I'm leaving these two to you, I'm going to save Lucy." Natsu shot her a roguish grin and said, "Alright, sounds like fun." She turned from him and shouted, "**Requip: Black Wing Armor!**" light wrapping around her body and dissipating, leaving her in a rather revealing set of armor with wings sprouting from the back. She launched herself into the air after the flying mouse, leaving Natsu alone with the two enemy mages.

The two mages sauntered forward, one a small man with spiky blue hair and a green coat, the other a man with only blue jeans and the face of a dog. Natsu didn't give them a chance to say or do anything. He launched himself at them and planted his fist in the face of the dog like man sending him crashing to the ground. He then flipped himself around and spewed fire from his mouth in the direction if the blue haired man, enveloping him in flames.

Natsu landed and saw that his flames had no effect on the blue haired man. His hand was held up and a blue aura surrounded him, "Those are some fearsome flames you have, I didn't know Fairy Tail had a mage like you."

Natsu grinned and said, "I'm new, but you may have heard of me, I'm the Salamander."

He could see that his name had struck a nerve with the man. He sensed the dog faced mage standing up behind him as the blue haired one said, "We were once part of a well-known guild, Lamia Scale, I'm sure you've heard of it. It's where Rock Iron Jura…" He couldn't complete his sentence as Natsu had let out a blast of flame from his fists that washed over both opponents.

The dog faced man was hit straight on and knocked down again. The blue haired guy however, didn't have a scratch on him, his blue aura still surrounding him. He stuttered out, "Hey jerk! Listen to people while they're talking!"

Natsu gave him a cold smile, "I've never heard of your guild, you are however, in my way, so I'm going to beat you down."

The blue haired man looked at him in disgust and said, "Toby, stand down, I will handle this." Without another word he raised him arm to point at Natsu and shouted, "**Wave**." Blue energy coalesced in his hand and shot out at Natsu. He jumped to the side and at the same time drew his sword shouting, "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" A crescent shaped wave of flame blasted towards the blue haired man but he once again put up the blue aura which caused it to dissipate.

He smiled arrogantly, "So you know what that is. The vibrations I create can neutralize any type of magic, in other words magic that is invincible to magic! When I was in Lamia Scale I specialized in facing off against wizards. It is because all wizards are powerless before me!"

Natsu could see the magic circles forming around his hands and let out a laugh, "I don't think so." He dodged the incoming attacks that the man sent at him and let out a shout, slashing at the aura that surrounded the man. He could feel it when his sword absorbed the magic of the man's blue aura, and watched as it disappeared. His opponent had an utterly surprised look on his face, "You may be able to dissipate a wizard's mage, but my sword here can absorb it." Natsu smirked.

His opponent could only stutter, "Bu… but… There's no way…"

Natsu gave him a cold smile, "Yes there is. Now, feel the flames of my wrath!" He stepped forward shouting, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" and swept his blade at the man. His opponents' body was engulfed in flames and a moment later he flew backwards, landing in the dirt unconscious.

He turned towards the other mage, Toby, Who was standing looking on in awe, "You're awesome!"

Natsu said, "I know, you're about to get some awesome all to yourself."

Toby grinned and said, "Yeah right, I'm strong than Yuka was." He crossed his arms in front of him in an X-shape and shouted, "**Paralyze Claw: Mega Jellyfish!**" Natsu watched as his fingernails glowed green and began to extend, eventually ending in long sharp claws. Toby grinned and said, "These claws have secrets hidden within them!"

Natsu deadpanned, "Like, they'll paralyze you?"

Toby looked shocked, "How did you know!"

Natsu couldn't help but think, 'This guy is an idiot.'

The dog faced man suddenly charged at Natsu swinging wildly with his claws shouting, "One touch from these claws and it's all over! You'll be shaking like a leaf waiting for death!"

Natsu dodged all of his attacks and leapt back saying, "Whoa, hold on there," He pointed at the man's forehead, "You have something on your face."

Toby looked confused, but reached up to touch his forehead, inadvertently poking himself with his fingernails, which shocked him into unconsciousness.

Natsu sighed and said to nobody in particular, "Why do I always get the idiots?"

He was about to turn and head out of the village to track down wherever the villagers had gone when he noticed a figure stumbling up the road. He waited a minute until he recognized the figure as Gray, looking like he had just lost a fight pretty badly. Natsu walked towards Gray as he stumbled up the road. When he reached where the gate used to be he collapsed onto his face. Natsu sighed and went over to him, rolling him onto his back only to see that he'd fallen unconscious. Gray was covered in scuff marks and bruises, it looked like whoever he had fought thrashed him badly. He shook his head and grasped Gray's arm, pulling him up and onto his shoulders, using his other hand to grasp his leg and heft Gray in a fireman's carry.

With his new found burden, Natsu began to follow the tracks left by the villagers as they had run away. He grumbled as he carried Gray, "Of course I get stuck with the weak mages, who don't even put up a fight, then I have to carry the damn stripper all the way to who knows where, and then Scarlet is going to boss me around when I get there. Why did I come on this mission again? I'm not even getting paid!"

After a while he made his way to a make shift camp that had been erected by the villagers. They saw him and some cheered, seeing as how he was their savior from the giant rat attack. He asked the first one he came to, "Are the other two Fairy Tail mages back yet?" The demon man nodded and said, they're in a hut over here, and led him to it. Natsu thanked him and went inside, mildly shocked at the scene before him.

Erza was sitting on a box, legs and arms crossed with an angry look on her face, Lucy was on her knees next to her, but had ropes tied around her. Upon seeing Gray however, Erza's expression softened and she immediately came and helped Natsu set him down on a pallet. She bandaged his wounds as Natsu went over and sat down next to Lucy. He grinned and her and asked, "So, what's with all the rope?"

Lucy glared at him and answered, "Erza tied me up because she's going to take Gray and I back and punish us for breaking guild rules." When she said this however, she lost her glare and it was replaced with an expression of fear.

Natsu laughed at her expression and said, "Oh come on I'm sure it isn't that bad." He quickly stopped laughing when he saw Erza glare over at the two of them, looking like she was ready to give them a serious beating. When she turned back to Gray, Natsu leaned over to Lucy and whispered, "If looks could kill." This caused Lucy to giggle, which earned them both another glare from Erza.

After another few minutes Erza finished bandaging up Gray and came back over to them, leaving him to his rest. She looked at Lucy and said, "We will rest tonight and then leave in the morning." in a tone that brooked no arguments. Lucy meekly said, "Yes ma'am."

Natsu only chuckled and dragged a sleeping pallet to the corner of the building, as far away from Erza as he could get. She did the same, dragging hers to the opposite corner. Lucy only looked between them with a look of confusion. All three of them settled down for the night. Natsu lay on his back and before drifting off to sleep thought, 'I'd really like to know what Lucy meant about finding a demon, I'll just ask her in the morning.'

* * *

><p>Morning came, and Natsu was the first to wake up when the light of the new day began peeking through the windows. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, checking out his surroundings. Gray was still unconscious and heavily bandaged. Lucy was lying on her pallet, cuddled up to a small white doglike thing, which Natsu assumed was a celestial spirit. Erza was lying flat on her back with her head turned slightly sideways on her pillow. Natsu smiled and thought, 'I guess being asleep is the only time she actually relaxes, of course I bet if I went over there and tried to touch her I'd end up losing a hand.'<p>

He grinned at the thought and stood up; reaching over to grab his sheathed sword and buckle it onto his back, making sure the hilt was in easy reach over his right shoulder. He walked over to door and pushed aside the heavy woolen carpet that covered the door, squinting as the sun hit his eyes. Natsu made his way out of the makeshift camp and found a small copse of trees a short ways away. He then pulled out his sword and sat down in a meditative position, holding his sword vertically in front of him.

He meditated the way Igneel had taught him too, focusing himself on his sword and feeling all of the power that resided in it. All of the power that was absorbed in the sword stayed there, as it didn't have anywhere to go. The power of Erigor's **Emera Baram**, as well as the power of Yuka's **Wave** spell were the only spells that it had absorbed since he had last done this. He concentrated with all his might on the sword and soon he felt it respond to him. A small golden flame began to appear at the tip of the sword, and the longer Natsu focused, the more the flame grew, fed by the power that the sword had absorbed. It grew until it took on the shape of a small dragon, and when he felt that all the power had been drawn out of the sword, he let the dragon fly into his mouth, gulping it down. Immediately he felt any fatigue that had been in his limbs disappear, and a well of energy appeared inside him that would keep him going through even the toughest battles.

He grinned and stood up from his meditation, re-sheathing his sword in one sure movement. As he turned to go back towards the village though, he was shocked to see Erza standing a few feet behind him, leaning against a tree.

He was only surprised for a moment though and replaced the look on his face with a frown, "What do you want?"

She replied, "I heard you leaving the tent and I decided to follow you to make sure you didn't desert us."

Natsu sighed, "Jeez, if I was going to ditch you guys I'd have left Gray to those other mages and taken the pirate ship back to the mainland."

She grunted, "Who can tell what goes on in the mind of a criminal. I'm just being cautious."

He ignored her and moved to push past her and go back to the camp. She stopped him and asked, "What did you just do?"

"If it was any business of yours I would tell you, no back off."

"It is generally my business what my team mates decide to do while on a mission."

Natsu couldn't refute her logic so he begrudgingly answered, "I was eating the energy I had stored up in my sword. You see when I absorb magical attacks, the energy doesn't just dissipate, it stays locked up in my sword. When I have the time, I can go and meditate to draw out the energy that I've absorbed and eat it, giving me a little extra boost. It's a bit too impractical in the middle of a fight but when I have the time it's a great pick me up in the mornings."

She seemed satisfied with his answer and let him pass without another word. He headed back with Erza a few steps behind him. They both returned to the hut they'd been given to see Lucy up and about, and Gray just sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Natsu walked over to Lucy and said, "I meant to ask last night, but what exactly did you mean you found a demon in the ruins?"

She looked at him and said quietly, "Well, Gray and I were exploring the ruins trying to figure out why the moon was purple and we fell through a weak part of the floor. We ended up in a giant cave beneath the ruins and there was a huge demon encased in ice. Gray freaked out because he'd seen it before and told me that his mentor had died casting the spell that froze the demon, whose name is apparently Deliora."

Natsu whistled when he heard the name, "Deliora, damn that's one of Zeref's demons, like Lullaby but stronger."

By this time Gray was up and he had heard the last part of their conversation. He came over and said, "That's right, my old master died saving me from that demon. Now her other student, Lyon, is trying to unfreeze the demon so that he can fight it himself. We have to stop him."

Erza heard his statement and said, "No. Salamander and I have come to bring back some rule breakers, and that is what we're doing."

Gray gave her a hard look, "Haven't you seen what these villagers look like? Do you want to let Lyon release Deliora on the world?"

"I saw, and dealing with Lyon is not why I am here"

"You're just going to leave?"

"The request has been posted to other guilds. Would it not be better for some guild wizards who properly took the job?"

Gray looked angry, "I've misjudged you, Erza!"

He suddenly found a sword at his throat, "You won't get away with breaking guild rules."

Gray surprised everyone by grasping the sword and moving its point down to his Fairy Tail guild mark, exposed on his right pectoral. He gave Erza a hard look and said, "Do what you must. This is the path I've chosen, it's something I've got to do."

She wouldn't hold the sword against his chest and lowered it. Gray walked over to the entrance and said, "This is something I've got to do. If you've going to strike me down, do it." When she didn't, he walked out.

Natsu whistled, "Damn, he's a tough guy to face you down Scarlet."

She only glared at him and said, "The present situation is unacceptable, we will take them back after it has been resolved"

She turned and walked out beckoning the other two to follow her. Natsu grinned and remarked to Lucy, "Seems like today is going to be fun."

They followed her out and caught up with Gray, Erza said, "We will go to the temple, defeat your former comrade, and end this, and then you will return to be punished."

Gray smiled and simply said, "Thank you."

They set off into the forest and traveled for a few hours until the temple was in sight. When they were only a mile from the temple, a band of strangely dressed people accosted them. Dressed in robes and with headdresses covering their faces, the leader shouted, "We've found you Fairy Tail. We won't allow you to interfere with Lord Reitei!"

Erza looked at the group confidently, "Leave them to Lucy and I, Gray, go finish things with Lyon. Salamander, back him up."

Natsu knew it wasn't the time to tease but he couldn't resist, "What? You trust me to back up Gray without being under your watchful eye?"

She only glared at him, "I trust that Gray can take care of himself, I will not leave you alone with Lucy where you could betray us and do indecent things to her!"

Lucy couldn't hide the embarrassed blush on her face as Natsu replied, "Sheesh, get your mind out of the gutter Scarlet."

She only responded with a thunderous, "Go!"

Natsu rushed off with Gray towards the temple and only moments later heard the sound of fighting behind him. It only took them a few minutes to get to the temple. They reached it and ran inside. Natsu turned to Gray and asked, "You've been here before, where do you think Lyon is?"

Gray only shrugged and said, "I don't know we didn't have time to explore the whole thing."

Natsu sighed and lifted his nose into the air, sniffing to try and catch a human scent. He caught two, and one of them shocked him. He could smell them a ways off inside the temple and said to Gray, "Come on, I think I can sniff them out."

He took off with Gray trailing him and headed to where the smell was coming from. After a few minutes the smell got stronger and they seemed to be headed towards the central part of the temple. They took a corner and found themselves at the entrance to a large room, and inside were two men. The first was tall with silver hair. He had sharp cheekbones and was dressed blue clothes and a long white cape. The second was a rather short man with a red demon mask that had four horns coming off of it. He had a green cape that looked to be made of grass over his hump-back.

Both men looked surprised to see the Fairy Tail wizards. Natsu grinned and said, "Alright Gray, which one do you want?" When he didn't get an answer he glanced over to see that Gray had his eyes glued to the silver haired man, a look of rage in his eyes. 'Well I guess that answers that question.'

Natsu shouted, "Alright short guy, I think we should let these two work out there differences."

The short man grinned and said in a deep voice, "I think so as well." A hole suddenly opened up in the floor between Natsu and the short man and the short man stepped forward and fell through it. Natsu turned to Gray and asked, "Can you handle this guy?"

Gray only nodded, never taking his eyes off of his rival. Natsu ran off and jumped in the hole, "Don't do anything stupid Gray, I think Erza would do some unmentionable things to me if you died."

He fell through the hole to a new floor, but his opponent had already scampered off. Natsu caught the scent again and thought to himself, 'Now what the hell are you doing here?'

He followed the familiar scent deeper into the temple until he came to the underground tunnels that Lucy had talked about. He followed them until they opened up into a large cavern where the man stood, calmly waiting for him. Behind him a demon a hundred feet tall sat stood encased in ice.

When Natsu entered the room the short man grinned and bowed, "I am Zalty, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Natsu only smirked, "Cut the crap Ultear, I know it's you, you can't change your smell."

The man pouted, "Natsu, why can't you let me have any fun."

"Because it's really creepy when you look like an old man."

Light surrounded the man and when it dissipated a moment later Ultear stood before him, clad in her short revealing kimono. Natsu could only grin and say, "Much better."

Ultear gave him a sultry smile, "Now Natsu, what on earth are you doing here messing with my best laid plans."

The dragon slayer gave a feral smile, "Oh you know, I'm just passing through, doing some work for the guild, happened to smell you and thought I would say hi."

Ultear gave a throaty laugh, "Are you sure that's all you'd like to do?"

Natsu gave her a wink, "You know I'm smarter than that Ultear, besides I've got my eye elsewhere."

The beautiful woman pouted and in a flash of light returned to the form of Zalty. In that deep voice she said, "Now who could you have your eyes set on?"

Natsu shook his head and replied, "I don't think you need to know that, Zalty." He put a heavy sarcastic emphasis on her name.

"Zalty" laughed and said, "I see, it must be that red headed beauty that is here with you."

Natsu's face remained impassive, "It could be."

"She would never give in to you, you would have to take her and I believe that would be difficult for you."

Natsu simply replied, "You underestimate me."

"Zalty" gave another laugh, "Well, when you do take her, you should bring her to my master. He would love to have a Fairy to pluck the wings from."

Natsu growled at her, "Leave. Now. Before you do or say something that we're both going to regret."

The only response he got was a cruel smile, and then "Zalty" disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Natsu turned to leave to make his way back up to Gray thinking, 'Damn that woman. One of these days she and I are going to have a reckoning.'

Before he could complete his turn however a sword came out of the darkness and nearly cut his head from his shoulders, his instincts barely warning him in time to drop to the ground. The moment he hit the ground however, the sword reversed itself, coming down in an attempt to impale him. He rolled away just as it hit and jumped up backing away from whoever had attacked him.

When he looked up he saw Erza, wielding a sword in both hands and with a manic look in her eyes.

He was shocked and could only shout, "What the hell are you doing Scarlet!"

She didn't bother to answer him only charging and swinging both swords at him in an attempt to slice him in half. He was barely able to dodge one and unsheathe his sword to parry the other. He flourished his sword to push her back and disengage, "Why are you attacking me!"

She hissed at him, "I heard you talking to that evil man. If you think you can just take me to whomever his master is you are sorely mistaken. Now that you've betrayed us like I knew you would I can put an end to this charade."

Natsu shook his head, "You've got it all wrong! You didn't hear everything!"

She charged at him screaming, "I heard enough!"


	7. Chapter 7

Natsu backpedalled, not wanting to get into a serious fight with the enraged woman. She came on nonetheless and sent a flurry of strikes, almost too fast for the eye to see, at him. He was forced to dodge and block but Natsu noticed that she wasn't even trying to defend herself, putting all of her efforts into cutting him down.

He thought 'Damn it, this really isn't the time.' as he ducked a sword swing one moment and then had to hop over another one the next. He waited patiently until he saw an opening and then put all of his power into a bone crushing kick to Erza's chest that, rather than sending her flying away, only pushed her back a few feet. 'She's not going to listen to reason at all; I'm probably going to have to get serious here.' He thought.

Instead of charging at him as he expected her too she screamed, "You're exactly like every other criminal, even given one chance of redemption you can't do it! You'd rather betray your comrades and turn back to your evil ways. You are exactly like Jellal!"

Natsu felt as if she had actually plunged her sword into his guts. His vision went red as rage flared up within him. His face went blank as he tried to control it, but the rage quickly overcame him and manifested itself. Flames began to coalesce around his body and his eyes turned from their normal black to a seething red. In just moments a column of flame erupted from where he stood.

He screamed back at her, "You think I'm like Jellal? You think I'm a genocidal maniac who murders anyone he can get his hands on to feed his mad obsession? Don't talk to me about comrades. I have never betrayed a comrade, because I've never had a chance to! Fairy Tail is the first place I've found comrades! Gray is a comrade, Lucy is a comrade, hell even Mira is a comrade! You, however, have never been my comrade. All you can see is my past and you won't even give me a chance to move past it. If the infamous Salamander is who you want to see in front of you, then that's exactly what you will get!"

His tirade seemed to catch her off guard and he used that chance to charge forward, slashing at her with his sword and shouting, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**"

She had quickly requiped into her **Flame Empress Armor**, but the power of his raging flames was too strong. His attack sent her flying back into wall of the cavern, forming a huge crater. Before the dust from her impact had settled however he heard, "**Requip: Black Wing Armor!**" and she shot out at him, swinging her sword at his head again. He ducked under her and as she flew over, he shouted "**Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!**" and punched her in the stomach, sending her flying upwards. Erza was barely able to stop her momentum from slamming her into the ceiling. She righted herself and then dropped back down to the ground.

Natsu gave her a cold look and said, "We are done here, I haven't betrayed you."

The look she returned was one of pure rage and she said, "We're not done yet." She took a deep breath and shouted, "**Requip: Purgatory Armor!**" The familiar light of her requip magic surrounded her and when it disappeared she was standing in black armor with spikes jutting out. The most notable part of her ensemble though was the sword, standing as tall as Erza and with spikes along the edge. She gave him an empty look, "No one has seen this armor and lived."

Natsu felt the rage inside him double; knowing that she truly abandoned the mission the master had given her just to kill him. He knew she wouldn't stop until one of them was dead, because she couldn't let go of her own past enough to see past his own. 'If that's how it is then so be it.'

Natsu embraced the rage, letting the flames around him grow hotter and stronger. The flames he emitted were no longer bright red and orange but almost pure white. He channeled the power into his sword and the blade also turned a pure white, becoming just as hot as the flames without losing its solid state. Natsu felt, rather than saw, Erza's charge and was able to duck the swing of her sword. He leapt back but she followed, bringing her gigantic sword up and slashing down in a vertical attack. He raised his sword to block and could see the look of surprise on Erza's face at the result. His white hot sword had sheared her blade in half, both halves glowing where they had been melted through.

She stopped for a moment and started to say, "What di…" But Natsu didn't give her a chance to finish. He slashed at her sword, melting away what was left and leaving her only gripping the handle. An instant afterwards he backhanded her, cracking her breastplate and sending her flying again into the wall. He followed up and moments after she hit the wall he drove his fist into her stomach, shattering the breastplate where it had already been cracked. He used one hand to grab her wrists and pin them above her head to the wall, and the other to hold his sword, back to its original obsidian state, across her throat.

He stared into her eyes, seeing not terror or defeat, but hatred. He said, "If you think I'm so like Jellal what do you think I'm going to do now? I could torture you, breaking your mind until you're a shell of your former self. I've spent enough time around the truly depraved that I've picked up a few things. Or I could have my way with you. You're in a rather compromising position right now; I could break you that way, destroy everything that makes you who you are. But what am I going to do? I'm going to take my sword away from your throat and let you go, because I haven't betrayed you. That guy, that was freaking Ultear, probably here manipulating that poor bastard Lyon into getting himself killed by Deliora. I led her away from Gray so he could finish the fight with his rival with honor, and I convinced her to leave, so that we didn't have to fight one of the most powerful members of one of the most powerful dark guilds who could probably wipe the floor with all of us."

He took his sword from her throat and released her wrists taking a step back; she dropped to the ground without a sound. He turned and walked away saying, "Don't ever compare me to Jellal. If I was like Jellal you, your friends, and anything you've ever cared be about would be wiped from existence the moment I got done using you for everything you were worth. Don't take your hatred and guilt from your past with him out on me, I'm nothing like him."

He stopped and looked at Deliora, not giving the defeated Erza another thought. A strange purple beam was coming down from the ceiling and hitting the ice that Deliora was encased in, causing water to come cascading off of it. Natsu thought, 'Damn, they're going to complete the ritual and Deliora is going to break free.' A moment later he heard footsteps coming down the tunnel that led away from the cavern. He turned with his sword raised but saw that it was Lucy and Gray. Gray had a large wound in his side and Lucy had to support him as they staggered down the tunnel. They reached the cavern and gaped at the scene before them, Erza lying defeated near the wall, and Natsu with a look of barely contained fury.

Gray gasped out, "What the hell did you do to her Natsu?"

Natsu could only answer, "She misinterpreted a conversation I had with that old man as me betraying Fairy Tail. I had to correct her vigorously."

Lucy didn't look all that convinced, "Why didn't you just explain it to her?"

"She hasn't trusted me since day one. You, Gray, hell even the master put a bit of trust in me, trusted that I had some freaking honor and would abide by my word. Erza didn't and has been looking for any excuse to say that I betrayed the group and to kill me."

He took a deep breath and continued, "But we have bigger problems, I'll explain everything later and if you decide that I've betrayed you then you can kill me, but it looks like they're about to complete the ritual and Deliora is going to be free."

Both of them looked shocked and swiveled their heads to look at Deliora. Sure enough by this time water was cascading down and the tips of the demons horns were showing through the ice.

Gray could only stutter out, "Why? I defeated Lyon but the demon is still going to be released."

Lucy took a more practical stance, "If it's going to be released we have to get out of here."

Natsu shook his head, "The ice is melting too fast, we'd never get away by the time it got free. Looks like we're going to have to fight it."

Lucy and Gray looked at him incredulously. Lucy exclaimed "We can't, Gray's seriously hurt, you've put Erza out of commission and I can't summon any more spirits today!"

Natsu shrugged, "Well you guys get out of here then I'll take care of this thing, I still have some pent up rage at Scarlet that I need to let out."

Before either of them could come up with a reply they heard a raspy voice from the tunnel, "No, I will be the one to defeat Deliora, I will surpass Ul."

Everyone turned to see Lyon dragging himself into the room, staring at Deliora in delight. Suddenly a roar could be heard, so loud that it almost deafened everyone in the cavern. They spun around and saw that everything but Deliora's legs were now free, and the demon was twisting around and roaring with rage.

Gray shook off Lucy and stepped forward saying, "I'm going to seal Deliora with **Iced Shell **again."

Natsu asked him, "Isn't that how your teacher died in the first place, using that spell?

Gray replied, "It is, but it's the only way to stop Deliora."

Natsu walked over to him and slapped him lightly on the back of the head, "You moron, you only get one life, don't throw it away like that until the last breath is leaving your body."

Natsu turned as Gray looked at him stunned and made his way over to where the demon stood, now completely free, roaring its challenge to the world. He ignited his sword and held it up in a ready position shouting, "Bring it you shitty excuse for a demon!"

The demon looked at him, like Natsu would like at a fly, and brought back its fist before suddenly launching it forward in a powerful punch. Natsu gave a feral grin, "Finally something that can take a beating."

He swung his sword forward to connect with the punch and a shockwave erupted when they smashed together. Natsu was holding the demon's fist at bay with his sword. A moment later however, cracks began to appear all along the demons arm. They traveled upwards until there were cracks all over the demons body, and in a moment it disintegrated, falling to the ground in huge frozen chunks of demon.

Natsu could only gape as it happened. Everything settled and he turned around to see Lucy and Gray standing frozen with shocked looks on their face. Natsu couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Man Gray, you're teacher must have really been something. That thing was locked up in her ice for ten years; she must have been sapping its life force away so all we got were its last few moments."

Grays face was blank for a moment but then broke out in a smile, "You're right, she really was something."

Natsu said to everyone, "Alright let's get out of here, I'm tired of these ruins, Gray you grab that sad sack Lyon and Lucy check on Scarlet."

Gray and Lucy began doing just that and Natsu turned back towards the remains of Deliora to hide the look of rage that flashed across his face, 'I really need to hit something.'

He heard Lucy call out from behind him, "Natsu! You knocked Erza out!"

Natsu groaned and turned around, making his way over to the celestial mage and the downed Erza. He looked down at Erza's unconscious body, "I really didn't think I hit her that hard, she really shouldn't have made me that angry."

Lucy gave him a mildly frightened look, "How did she make you so angry."

Natsu sighed and bent down, picking up Erza's body and throwing her over his shoulder, "Let's just say she made some accusations that were highly untrue, and then compared me to one of my least favorite people in the world."

Lucy looked curious but decided not to press the issue for which Natsu was glad. He didn't think he'd be able to explain it without letting the rage take over again.

The group made its way out of the temple where they left Lyon with his group of followers. They then trekked back across the island to the village, Natsu carrying Erza the entire way, as Gray was too injured to do much other than lean on Lucy. They were making their way back to the camp that the villagers set up when they noticed that the village was back to normal, somehow. They walked through the open gate and we're mobbed by villagers, wanting to know how they'd done it. Natsu quickly sent them away with a, "I know a guy, but we've got some seriously injured people so would you allow us to stay here another night and rest?"

They were led over to a house and Gray collapsed onto a pallet. Natsu didn't know whether it was unconsciousness or he was that tired, but he was out one way or the other. Natsu lay Erza's unconscious body down onto another pallet and checked her injuries. There was a large bruise and burn on her stomach and her back was nothing but bruises from where she'd slammed into the wall multiple times. Natsu sighed and said, 'She's probably going to be pissed about this tomorrow, whatever, she deserves it.'

He went to stand up and go find some bandages but a weak hand caught his wrist, Erza's eyes were barely open and she could only form the word, "Why?"

Natsu shook her off and said, "I told you, I'm nothing like him." He couldn't see what effect his words had because she immediately lapsed into unconsciousness again. He bandaged her up and left the hut, sniffing the air to see if he could catch a familiar scent. He did and shook his head, following it a quarter of a mile into the forest. He saw Ultear, in her normal form, leaning against a tree with a smile on her face.

He approached her and said, "I knew you had a good bone somewhere in your body."

She winked at him, "Has this done anything to improve my chances eh?"

Natsu returned her wink, "Sadly no, I'm afraid that I'm still not that stupid."

Ultear shook her head and then said, "Well I guess most of this was for nothing, if Deliora was already dead then there wasn't much of a point in trying to unfreeze it."

Natsu could only shrug, "Might not have been anything for you, I got a chance to prove myself to the guild, so it worked out for me quite well."

Ultear gave him a sultry smile, "Are you sure I haven't earned some goodwill from this?"

"Sure Ultear, I won't start investigating and find out who the other poor sap is that you're controlling for one of your dastardly plans."

She pouted, "That's not the kind of good will I meant."

He gave a cocky grin, "I know. It's never going to happen Ultear, I found someone else."

Ultear gave him an annoyed look, "You mean the one that just tried to kill you a few hours ago?"

Natsu kept an easy smile on his face, "It could be anyone. You'll just have to wait and see."

Ultear shook her head and said, "Well, when she throws you away darling, I'd love to get my hands on you." With that, and another puff of smoke she vanished.

Natsu just shook his head with a smile, thinking, 'One of these day's I'm going to have to have a serious fight with her.'

He made his way back to the village and found his way back into the hut that the other Fairy Tail mages were staying in. Lucy was the only one awake, waiting for him to get back. He gave her a questioning look and she said, "The moon is still purple, the job request was for us to come and find a way to fix the purple moon. The mayor wants us to destroy the moon but I don't think we can actually do that."

Natsu gave her a tired grin and said, "Worry about that in the morning, it's time to get some sleep now."

* * *

><p>Natsu gradually woke up with the day the next morning. As light began to spill into the room through the windows he opened his eyes. He slowly sat up to see that again, he was the first one awake. Gray was still unconscious, although he looked a little better. Lucy was cuddled up to her little Celestial spirit again. Erza was again flat on her back, with her head turned a bit to the side. The only difference was the small line of drool connecting her mouth to the pillow. Natsu couldn't suppress a smirk at how cute it was. 'Wait, this girl just tried to kill me yesterday, seriously kill me, and I'm thinking about how cute she is? Something is seriously wrong with me.'<p>

He stood up and made his way out of the hut. He noticed that the mayor of the village was at a gravestone over towards the edge of the village. He made his way over and waiting patiently until the mayor noticed him and came to speak with him. They talked and Natsu got the particulars of exactly what had happened with the moon. He burst out laughing when it finally hit him what the problem was, and he assured the mayor that he would take care of it, it would just have to wait for night.

He went back to the hut and sat down in the corner, not really wanting to wait out what he knew would be a really awkward day.

Natsu's prediction turned out to be fairly accurate. The moment Erza had woken up she had demanded to know exactly what happened. Natsu explained, also throwing in the bit about the actual job that the villagers wanted done, and when he was done she stormed out. Gray and Lucy woke up soon after, but Natsu didn't explain the village's problem to them. The day passed in awkward silence and Natsu was relieved when night finally fell.

He gathered everybody in the village, including Erza who had shown back up looking rather downcast, in the center of the village and explained everything to them. "Alright, so the spell that those guys were using to unfreeze Deliora, the moon drip, was releasing a gas that crystallized in the air and formed a giant dome over the island. So Titania, if you would do the honors, please toss a spear straight at the moon."

She did as he asked without a word. She requipped into a golden armor and in her hand she held a giant spear. She flung it straight at the moon and after a moment, cracks seemingly began to appear in the moon. Only for a moment though, as the gaseous dome surrounding the island broke and the purple moonlight was replaced with silver. Natsu then went on to explain that the villagers were in fact, demons all along that could turn in to humans. The gas had affected their memories, making them believe they were humans with a demon problem.

With this revelation the demons threw the Fairy Tail mages a gigantic party. They partied long into the night but during it Natsu watched Erza slip away unnoticed by any but him. He decided to follow her, thinking that they really should probably talk about her attempted homicide. He followed her a good distance away where she stopped in a clearing and turned to face him calling out, "Salamander, I know you're following me."

Natsu stepped out of the shadows and leaned against a tree, just far enough to where a soft voice would carry. They stood in silence for a moment, neither wanting to be the one to start.

Surprisingly, it was her nerve that broke first, "I'm not going to apologize."

"I don't see why not, you did very hard to kill me."

She frowned, "I had a very good reason."

Natsu almost growled, "You had no good reason, you heard half of a conversation that could have meant anything, so you decided that I must be betraying you. You wouldn't listen to reason and you seriously tried to kill me. That's not even the part that pisses me off. You think I'm something like Jellal, and if you think that you either don't know me or you really don't know him."

Erza stared silently at him for a moment, "I know exactly who Jellal is. It's you I don't know or trust."

Natsu gave a bitter laugh, "You haven't given me a chance to earn your trust. We met under not so great circumstances and then had a crazy adventure killing one of Zeref's demons. Then we had a fight. You won when I got cocky. I made a bad bet with Master and ended up having to join your guild. I get teamed up with you and on our first mission out, you try and kill me. You haven't tried to know me, and you haven't tried to trust me. You have to give me a god damn chance before trying to take my head off."

"I'm just being cautious and protecting my guild from betrayal."

"No, I think the guild is fine. You're protecting yourself. I don't know what Jellal did when he betrayed you, but I'm not him."

He could see tears in Erza's eyes as she practically whispered, "You're exactly like him, the one who comes to save me, and then betrays me and destroys my heart."

Natsu snorted, "I'm not in your heart and from the sound if it there isn't much left to destroy. Damn, I thought I was the one who had trouble letting the past go."

She glared at him through her tears, "You don't know anything about my past. You can't judge me for wanting to not be betrayed like that again."

"I don't know your past, but I know Jellal pretty well, and I think I've figured you out a tiny bit. Master said some pretty poignant things when he tricked me into making that bet, things about moving on and building a new life. You may have built a new life but you haven't moved on. Trying doing that before you judge me, because right now all you see is Jellal, you don't actually see me."

With that Natsu turned and walked away, leaving Erza with a stricken look on her face, trying to decipher the meaning of his words.

* * *

><p>After the party they stayed the night but left early the next morning. Erza had tried to refuse the reward but Natsu stepped forward and took it, due to the fact that he'd done most of the work on it, but gave Lucy the golden celestial key that had also been offered.<p>

Surprisingly the pirates were still there when they rowed the boat out to where they'd left them. They sailed back to Hargeon, Natsu leaning over the rails puking out last night's party, Gray and Lucy napping on the quarter deck, and Erza brooding quietly in the captain's cabin. They made it back to the port city, and took a train back to Magnolia. Gray and Lucy never quite understood the tense atmosphere between Natsu and Erza, but neither one of them bothered to explain. They arrived back at the guild, all going their separate ways. Gray went home to rest from his injuries. Lucy went to pay her rent. Natsu left to find himself a place to live. Erza went looking for a slice of strawberry cake, and a talk with the master, about a certain pink haired dragonslayer.


	8. Chapter 8

It had only been a week since Natsu and the others had returned from Galuna Island. With the reward money Natsu had been able to hire a contractor to build him a house a little bit outside of town in the forest. He'd even kicked in a little extra for a rush job and so now he had a nice little house to live in. He'd had enough left over to furnish it and now it was starting to feel like a home.

Every time he had gone to the guild he was received well, treated like one of the guild after helping bring back the two troublemakers Lucy and Gray, whom he had become quite good friends with. The only one who didn't talk to him was Erza. Every time he saw her at the guild she would look at him, blush, and hurry away. He didn't blame her, 'I was pretty harsh back on Galuna, I should probably apologize, but I don't have anything to apologize for dammit!'

This was one of the reasons it had been awkward when Lucy had asked him to go on a job with her and he'd had to tell her the terms of his probation. Lucy had only smiled, "Well then let's grab Erza and let's go!" It had taken a huge amount of persuading on the Celestial Mage's part but Erza had finally relented and agreed to go, bringing along Gray. Lucy and Gray both thought it was just for the company but Natsu knew better, she still didn't trust him and was bringing along capable backup. And so that's where Natsu found himself to be when they discovered the Phantom Lord attack on Fairy Tail, just getting back from a mission with the other three mages.

Natsu was walking along next to Lucy with Gray and Erza behind them, having a pleasant conversation. As they walked along he could hear the whispers of the townsfolk and feel their stares.

"Are those Fairy Tail Mages?"

"It looks like they don't know yet."

Natsu heard their comments and could feel a sense of foreboding overtake him. His senses proved correct when they came to the front of the guild and saw that iron pillars sticking out all over. They gaped at the destroyed building and Lucy could only gasp out, "What happened!"

All of their heads whipped around when they heard Mirajane's voice behind them, "It was Phantom. They got us."

Natsu silenty followed everyone inside, marveling at the destruction that the Phantom mage had wrought. He thought, 'Damn, I'd like to take a crack at this guy, he seems like a serious kind of opponent.'

Erza and Gray were fuming as they followed Mira downstairs to the basement. The rest of the guild was there, most of them drinking like normal, although the attitude was more subdued than it normally would be. The group made its way over to Master Makarov who was sitting on a barrel drinking a beer, already looking pretty far too drunk. When they got to him Erza was the first to speak, "Master, Phantom has attacked us, we must respond!"

The master only laughed, "Now now, calm down. It's not something to get riled up over."

Gray could only choke out, "What?"

Makarov took a drink before saying, "Phantom? That's all those half-wits have in them? Attacking the guild when nobody was here. Who'd take pleasure in that?

Natsu could only chuckle, "Nobody was here? Yeah guys this isn't something to get worked up over. Phantom must really be filled with pansys."

Natsu and Gray transferred their glares to him. Erza spoke, "You may not care about our guild but we certainly do! We can't just sit around."

Natsu shrugged, "Nobody was here. They were trying to what, send a message? I could have sent a better message blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back." The entire guild looked at him strangely, "Oh and what would you have done Natsu?" asked Mira with a slightly devilish look on her face.

Natsu felt a trickle of sweat flow down the back of his neck but he answered, "Well, if they're trying to start a fight this isn't the way to do it. If I'd been doing it I'd have waited till it was only Lisanna here closing up the bar and then come in, messed up the guild, and beat up Lisanna leaving her as a message." He felt eyes boring into him and took a step back defensively, "Hey, that's just how I would have done it, be glad these guys are incompetent."

He went and got a drink from Lisanna. She brought it to him and asked, "Is that really what you would have done?"

He smiled at her, "Hey I'm reformed over here. But yes that's what I would have done. If you're trying to start a fight it's better to go overboard than to not do enough."

She smiled back at him and teased, "Well I'm glad they're not as good at being criminals as you."

He grinned cockily at her, "It's not my fault I'm so good at whatever I do."

She shook his head at him and went off to take somebody else's order. He sat at the bar pondering the attack. Something was nagging at him and he couldn't figure it out. 'Why would they go to all the trouble of attacking the guild when they knew nobody was in it, and that it wouldn't start the fight they wanted?' He sat there, nursing his drink, with the question burning in his mind. 'Ah, they're planning on attacking some of the members tonight.'

It was this thought that led to him sitting on the roof of the house across from Lucy's apartment. 'If they're going to attack, they'll go for the weaker ones who are alone. Staking out Lucy's apartment is probably the best way for me to catch whoever did this.'

He settled down for a long night of waiting, the cool air not affecting him like it would other people. He had just gotten comfortable when the window in Lucy's apartment opened up and Erza stuck her head out and yelled, "Salamander I know you're out there, get your ass in here." He was taken aback and mildly chagrined that she had found him so easily, 'Damn, I must be getting sloppy.'

He hopped off the roof and walked over to Lucy's. The scene he found was mildly amusing. Gray in only his boxers was lounging on Lucy's bed, Erza sat stern faced at the writing desk tucked in the corner, and Lucy was pacing around the room. He entered the bedroom and said, "So what do you want Scarlet?"

She looked over at him, "I want nothing. It was Lucy who suggested we invite you inside."

He turned and looked at Lucy quizzically, "Well, Mirajane suggested everyone at the guild should stick together for a few days with Phantom being in town. Erza and Gray decided that they'd stay at my place. I noticed you on the roof while I was taking out the trash and figured you were at my house making sure they didn't attack me." She gave him a bright smile, "Thank you!"

He waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it, I figured that Phantom was going to attack someone from the guild tonight and decided to stake out your house since you're a pretty good target. However, if Gray and Titania are here, you're probably safe. If that's the case I'm going to head home and get some sleep."

Gray opened his eyes, "You don't want to stay here? Safety in numbers, even if Erza doesn't like it."

Erza shot a death glare at Gray and Natsu snorted, "Yeah she definitely wants me around, I don't want to piss her off more than is necessary so I'll get out of here. My chances of fighting those Phantom guys are probably nil tonight anyway."

Gray shrugged, "Alright man, don't get your ass kicked, I'd have way to much fun with that."

Natsu grinned and walked to the door opening it and stepping halfway out before turning back and saying, "Gray, put on some damn clothes!"

He left and shut the door, hearing the commotion that he'd set off in the apartment and smirking. He strolled casually along the streets headed out of town, maybe being a tad slower than he normally would, hoping to catch a Phantom mage skulking about. He had no such luck until the wind changed, blowing a slightly familiar scent into his nose. 'Hmmm, that smells like those iron poles that were stuck in the guild, that bastard must still be around.'

Natsu followed the scent until it a few minutes later it led him to the Magnolia Park. He walked in and followed his nose to the center where he found three Fairy Tail mages, Jet, Levy, and Droy, hanging on the large cherry blossom tree, and a man standing in front of them seemingly admiring his work. He had long black hair and, upon sensing Natsu enter the park and turning, Natsu could see that he had piercings all over his body and red eyes. The man looked at Natsu and said, "Tch, another piece of Fairy Tail trash I'm going to have to beat up."

Natsu stared impassively at him, "I take if you're the one that busted up the guild yesterday? That was completely amateurish."

This seemed to anger the black haired man, "Amateurish, you're a cocky punk aren't you? I'm going to have fun beating you into the ground."

Natsu let out a faint smile and drew his sword, "I may not have been in Fairy Tail for very long, but I cannot let you go unpunished for the crimes you have committed against us."

The man let out a strange laugh, "Gihihi, a newbie huh? I'm going to have fun with you." With that he charged forward and shouted, "**Pillar of the Iron Dragon!**" His fist turned into a metal pillar as thick as his neck and shot towards Natsu. Natsu was surprised but managed to bring his sword around to block the pillar, although he was pushed back some. The man retracted the pillar once Natsu had come to a stop and it turned back into his normal fist, "It's been a while since someone stopped that, this could actually be worth my time."

Natsu could only laugh, "Oh, I'm just wondering if you're going to be worth my time." He swung his sword in a horizontal slash and shouted, "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" A crescent shaped blast of flame flew towards the Phantom mage, surprising him. Natsu followed up in the moment the man's eyes were fixed on the flame. His enemy put his arms up in an X shape to take the blast and right as the blast hit Natsu was there shouting, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" He swung his sword in a vertical slash but his opponent had changed both of his arms into iron pillars and used his already crossed arms to catch Natsu's blade. The man was still blown backwards by the force of the fire but didn't seem to take much damage from it.

The man grinned at him from where he stood a few feet away, "Alright punk you're pretty good so I'll give you my name. I'm Black Steel Gajeel, Phantom Lord's ace."

Natsu grinned back, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, Fairy Tail's newest mage."

Gajeel frowned when he heard the name, "Salamander huh, the same Salamander who's also a pretty notorious criminal with a fairly high bounty on his head?"

Natsu laughed, "The one and only, although I'm reformed now and the council has taken the bounty off my head."

"Well damn, I was hoping that I'd have a really productive night. Beat up some weak ass fairies and then bring in a high class bounty."

Natsu smirked, "No such luck. I'm about to kick your ass and then haul you back to the Master for him to kick your ass."

They both suddenly stopped and scented the air as the wind changed, catching the new smell that was coming from behind Natsu. Gajeel tensed, but Natsu only sighed, knowing that this fun fight was over. Erza stepped out of the darkness and walked over until she was standing next to Natsu, "I think I deserve a piece of whoever attacked Fairy Tail Salamander."

Natsu frowned, "I have it under control, no need for you to step in."

She glared at him, "Nonsense, two against one is better than one on one."

Natsu sighed and said, "Yeah but he's going to bug out now."

The dark haired man grinned saying, "Salamander's right, can't risk fighting two of you guys, that's not part of the mission. Don't worry Salamander, you'll get your fight, and I'll beat your weak ass."

Natsu grinned back at him, "Looking forward to it metal head."

Erza glared and said, "You're just going to let him go?"

Natsu gestured and Erza looked back at where Gajeel had been standing. Had been standing being the key words as he had disappeared into the night. Erza turned her glare back on Natsu, "How could you just let him get away with what's he's done!" gesturing to Levy, Jet, and Droy.

Natsu walked forward towards the tree they were hung on waving his hand dismissively, "Relax, they obviously want a fight, and we're going to give it to them after what they've done. I let him run away because we're about to go right to him."

The red haired woman seemed only partially mollified by his explanation but dropped the issue. They worked in silence to pull the three mages down from where they were hanging, bruises and cuts evident all over their unconscious bodies. In silence they carried them to the hospital and made sure that they received treatment. Afterwards they went and explained everything to Makarov who sat at his desk quivering with rage as he heard the details. He slammed his fist down on the desk, breaking it, "I can stand being reduced to a run-down beer hall, but no parent can stand idle while the blood of his children is spilled. To War!"

* * *

><p>Early the next morning the guild had gathered and had marched off to oak town, where Phantom Lord's headquarters was located. They marched up to the large oak front doors and Natsu stepped forward out of the group. He drew his sword and ignited it before taking a deep breath and swinging it at the doors, blowing them off their hinges and into the guild hall with the power of his strike.<p>

The Fairy Tail mages charged in the door and Makarov shouted, "Fairy Tail!" The rest of the mages gave a war cry and charged into the Phantom Mages. Natsu lost track of where his comrades were as he let loose a feral smile and attacked, blowing away Phantom mage after Phantom mage with his fists, not bothering to use his sword on the rank and file. He noticed that the Fairy Tail mages were making steady progress wiping out the Phantom Mages and couldn't help but smile thinking, 'Well if I had to join a guild, at least it was a strong one.' Gray was using his **Ice Lance** to knock enemies everywhere. Mira was in her **Satan Soul** and was maniacally laughing as she battled through crowds of Phantom Mages. Erza was calmly slicing up anyone that got close to her.

He watched as Makarov made his way up the stairs shouting, "Erza! I'm leaving the rest here to you; Jose is likely on the top floor."

She shouted her understanding and went back to beating up the Phantom mages. Natsu was having a great time when suddenly he saw an iron pillar shooting down from the rafters at him. In a flash he had unsheathed his sword and blocked the pillar, letting it push him back out of the crowd of Phantom Mages until he was closer to his own comrades. The pillar slowly retracted and he watched as Gajeel dropped down from the rafters. The fighting stopped for a moment as Gajeel laughed, "Gihihi, not bad for Fairy trash, but let's get the real fight started."

Erza, Natsu, Mira, and Gray all stepped forward but Natsu said quickly, "My fight, dragonslayer on dragonslayer." With a wink his guild mates he ignited his sword and charged forward at Gajeel. He swung at Gajeel shouting "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" Gajeel blocked it but that's what Natsu had expected. He had really used the move to generate a large enough blast of flame to clear out some of the Phantom mages near them.

Gajeel sent a flurry of punches at Natsu, who dodged or blocked all of them, patiently waiting for an opening. When it was there he took it, taking one hand off of his sword as it blocked one of Gajeels punches sending his arm wide, shouting "**Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!**" He upper cut Gajeel, sending him flying backwards into the bar and destroying it.

He smiled when Gajeel got up from the wreckage of the bar saying, "Whoo, that stung a little, Salamander."

Natsu smirked and responded, "Good it was supposed to."

Gajeel didn't say another word, only charging him and sending another flurry of punches his way, only this time his fist turned into a metal pillar at the end of each punch, making them harder to dodge. One eventually connected with Natsu's chest, sending him flying back into a wall causing a large crater. He thought, 'Damn, this guy packs a mean punch' as he dropped down from the wall and walked through the dust to stand back in the open.

"That didn't hurt too much did it Salamander?"

"No, I didn't even realize it was you, I thought a butterfly had landed on my chest."

The two dragon slayers charged and clashed, Gajeel punching and kicking with his iron pillars and Natsu attacking with his sword. They battled around the large room, often sending Phantom mages flying with the fury of their combat. Natsu could tell that his comrades were winning and doubled his efforts to take out Phantom's strongest mage. He ducked under a jab to the face from Gajeel and quickly brought his sword around shouting, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" and swinging it upwards, colliding with one of Gajeels metal pillar arms and sending him flying into the rafters in a burst of flame.

Natsu watched Gajeel spin through the air but finally catch himself on one of the rafters, actually hanging upside down from it by the soles of his boots. He called down to the pink haired dragon slayer, "You got a destructive streak in you."

"You're about to see a little bit more of it right now."

Before he could launch himself into another attack however, a figure dropped down from the rafters above. It was a small figure, and as it hit the floor everything stopped. Makarov lay there, his face a sickly green color, defeated. Natsu watched as Erza, Gray, and others ran over to him. But he lost sight as he was mobbed by Phantom mages, whose morale had suddenly returned when they realized that Fairy Tail's master had been beaten. Natsu easily beat off his attackers but he heard Erza saying, "Retreat! Everyone return to the guild! Without Master we cannot defeat Jose. Retreat! That's an order."

Natsu growled, hating the thought but knowing that it was the right move. He began slowly backing up with the other Fairy Tail mages fighting off the suddenly energetic Phantom mages. He saw Gajeel right himself on the rafter and squat down, and a figure drop down from above and land next to him. He was focused on fighting but he did hear Gajeel say, "So did they catch Lucy?"

The man beside him said, "Yes, they gave Lucy a warm welcome, she is being held at our headquarters."

Natsu was shocked, not understanding why they would go after Lucy. He was one of the last Fairy Tail mages left in the guild as everyone else was on their way out. He took a moment to knock out a Phantom Mage and grab him by the collar, hefting him over his shoulder before turning and running out of the guild. He used his sword to send a burst of flame behind him, discouraging any pursuit.

He watched as his comrades left, but decided to take a different route. He got far away from the Phantom Guild and threw his captive, who was by this time awake, down on the ground. He saw the look of terror on his face and knew he could work with it. He squatted down in front of the man and put an insane grin on his face, "So, I heard that you lot have captured Lucy. Tell me where she is."

The man was brave he would give him that, "I've never heard of her!"

Natsu let out an insane laugh, "Have you ever heard of the Salamander?"

The man nodded fearfully.

"Well now have you ever heard of Endara the Breaker?"

At this the man got a wide eyed look of pure terror and started trying to scoot away from him.

Natsu gave a cruel laughed and said, "I'm not him, but I've seen enough of his work to replicate what he does. So you're going to tell me everything you know."

The man did, not leaving out a single detail. When he was finished, Natsu hit him on the head with the butt of his sword, rendering him unconscious. He started jogging towards Phantom's headquarters where they were keeping Lucy, not far from where he was. He arrived and saw broken walls, and a large manor house. He cautiously walked into the courtyard when something caught his eye at the top of one of the towers. He squinted and could see Lucy standing at the edge of the tower. He grinned and started to jog towards the tower, with the intention of getting up there and rescuing her. He was frozen in shock however, when she suddenly fell backwards from the tower, having seemingly let herself go.

He thought, 'Shit, she is crazy as hell!' as he rushed towards her, hoping that he got there in time. When he was close enough he dove, using blasts of flame from his feet to propel him forward, and caught Lucy midair. He cradled her body and turned them so that when they impacted with the wall that was rapidly approaching he would take the brunt of the hit. They did and he got the wind knocked out of him but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. They fell to the ground with his arms still protectively cradling Lucy, his body under hers shielding her from another impact.

The dust settled and they stayed for a moment before Lucy said, "I knew someone would save me."

"That was insane, there's no way of knowing that."

She only smiled at him, "I knew it, Fairy Tail would never leave me behind."

He laughed as he rolled her off him and stood up, offering his hand to help her up, "Well I guess I didn't, so your faith paid off."

She smiled at him again, "Although I didn't quite think it would be you Natsu."

He gave a mock frown, "Damn, those Fairy's must be rubbing off on me. I'm going to have to do something bad to get my bad boy credit back. Come on, let's get out of here before some Phantom Mages show up."

Lucy gave an evil smile, "I don't think any will, their master Jose was the only one there and I put him out of commission for a while."

Natsu had a look of pure shock on his face, "What the hell! That guy beat the Master? What did you do?"

Lucy smirked, "Oldest trick in the book, ask to go to the bathroom and then kick 'em in the junk while they're not paying attention."

A shiver went down Natsu's spine, and he felt a phantom ache of sympathy spring up, "I almost feel sorry for the guy... almost."

* * *

><p>Back at the guild everyone was sitting around the basement, getting bandaged or drinking or planning another attack. Macao and some others were clustered around a map trying to figure out the best way of attacking Phantoms headquarters. Lucy sat on a box, looking downcast while Natsu stood with his back against the wall next to her. Lucy suddenly said, "I'm sorry, this would all go away if I went home right?"<p>

Elfman was close by and said, "It's the fate of rich heiresses to get chased. And it is the job of men to protect them!"

Gray shook his head, "You're an idiot."

Natsu looked over to her, "Why would you keep this a secret?"

Lucy wouldn't look up from the floor, "I didn't really mean to keep it a secret it just never came up. Once I ran away from home I didn't want to be Lucy Heartfilia heir to the Hearfilia fortune. I just wanted to be Lucy. I guess if I just went home it would all be over."

Natsu snorted, "Do you want to go home?" she shook her head, "I thought not, don't go somewhere you don't want to be. If you're going to live be who you want to be. Be Lucy of Fairy Tail, sitting in a dirty beer hall and kicking one of the most powerful Mage's in the world in the junk. If you want Fairy Tail to be your home, make it your home. They're a pretty accepting lot around here, hell they took me."

Gray gave him a wry look, "Some people still aren't sure why flame brain."

Natsu grinned, "Hey now, I didn't see you catching Lucy falling from a tower in a dashingly heroic fashion."

Lucy snapped out of her depressed reverie or a moment to smile and to punch him, "Shut up, don't say another word about it, it's really embarrassing that I had to be saved by you."

Natsu grinned and rubbed his arm, "See? Cheer up, it's much more fun to be here with friends than out there doing whatever the hell else."

A sudden pounding could be suddenly felt, rattling the entire guild like an earthquake. Everyone in the basement started muttering, "What is that?" or some variation thereof. Natsu felt a pit begin to form in his stomach as he could sense that something extremely bad was about to happen. The rumbling came again and the door to the basement bursting open. Alzack ran in and screamed, "Outside!"


	9. Chapter 9

Natsu was one of the first people out the back door and he was shocked at what he saw. The Phantom headquarters that he had rescued Lucy from earlier was walking through the bay. It sat on a giant chunk of land that had huge mechanical legs attached to it. He stood in shock as the rest of the guild ran outside and also froze. It stopped a few hundred feet away from the cliff where the Fairy Tail guild was and it's legs bent, setting the chunk of land in a secure position. He could hear the shock in the voices of his comrades.

"Wha… what the hell is that?"

"It's their guild headquarters, what is it doing?"

Natsu watched as the front wall of one of the center buildings slowly lowered until there was a dark cavern in the middle of the Phantom headquarters. Slowly something extended from it, a huge tube that looked like… a magical cannon. Natsu broke out in a cold sweat, 'No, there's no way that's Jupiter. I'd heard a legal guild was getting the parts for it on the black market. If it is… we are all so dead. Crap I need to find Scarlet.'

He went through the crowd frantically searching for her. She wasn't hard to spot as her red hair was distinctive, but she was also wearing nothing but a pink fuzzy towel. He ran up to her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out towards the edge of the cliff. He felt her try to shake off but he tightened his grip and when he had finished dragging her to the front of the group he spun her around and said, "That thing is the Jupiter cannon, if that blast hits, the entire guild is going to be incinerated."

He could see the shock in her eyes, and he could almost hear the gears churning in her head as she tried to think of a solution. He went on, "I need you to requip into your adamantine armor, with it and my sword we should be able to stop the cannon shot. Do you trust me?"

He knew that this was the penultimate moment that would decide if he lived of died in the next few moments and she said, "No. But I'll do what you ask for the sake of the guild."

He glanced over his shoulder and he could see dark energy forming in front of the cannon. Knowing he didn't have much time he said, "I'm going to absorb the first half of the shot with my sword; I need you to stand right behind me with that big ass shield of yours and when I tell you to, bring the shield together in front of me."

She nodded and they both ran towards the edge of the cliff, Natsu drawing his sword and Erza requipping into her **Adamantine Armor.** He heard his guild mates shouting, "Natsu! Erza! There's no way you can block that. Just get out of there!"

He forced thoughts of fleeing out of his mind and stood at the edge of the cliff, holding his sword vertically in front of him and waiting for the inevitable cannon shot. He felt Erza step up behind him and could feel how cold her armor was through the back of his vest as she pressed into him. He had no time to think about how intimate the position was as the Jupiter cannons energy suddenly coalesced and shot forward, a giant stream of dark energy headed straight for him. He braced himself and held his sword out, and the energy impacted and nearly threw him away. He was barely able to hold his ground as he saw his sword absorbing huge amounts of energy into it. Time slowed down as red markings began to appear near the base of his sword. They swiftly began appearing along it's length, moving from the hilt to the tip, 'Shit if all of the runes on the sword glow red then it will fail and explode, I need to absorb as much as I can but not let it get all the way to the end.'

The runes kept appearing and when they were only inches away from the tip he screamed, "Now!" and felt Erza's arms close around him. His vision was obstructed by her shield and he heard her grunt as she slid back slightly, taking him with her. For what seemed like an eternity they stood there and suddenly just like it had begun the cannon shot fizzled out, but not before cracking the shield and giving one last pulse, throwing Natsu and Erza backwards. They flew end over and came down in the dirt, with Natsu on top of Erza, his face inches from hers.

They both let out a breath they'd been unconsciously holding and felt their bodies relax, the tension that had gripped their bodies through the ordeal fading away. He grinned at her, "Not bad Scarlet, although I think that armor is done for."

He saw her take stock of the situation and he could see the blood rush to her face when she realized the compromising position they were in. She shoved him off of her and he flopped down on the ground, suddenly exhausted. She turned to him and said quietly, "Thank you for helping me save the guild."

He grinned tiredly at her, "No problem, it's my home too now."

They were suddenly aware of the guild around them cheering their heroic feat of resistance. Natsu used his sword to lever himself off the ground, and then helped Erza to her feet. She requiped back into her normal blue skirt and armor and they turned to face the Phantom headquarters.

Suddenly everyone heard a chilling voice, "Makarov is out of commission. You no longer have a chance for victory. Hand over Lucy Heartfilia!"

The entire guild was silent for a moment and then broke out in yells and jeers and insults.

"Not on your life!"

"Are we a guild that hands over our friends? I don't think so!"

"Lucy is one of us!"

The entire guild was shouting abuse at the Phantom guild. Natsu looked back and noticed Lucy standing in the middle of the crowd, her head down. He knew that she was ashamed that all of this was happening because of her. His head whipped around when he heard Erza scream, "We'd rather die than sell out our friends!"

Natsu grinned as the moment overtook him and shouted, "You'll have to go through each and every one of us to get to Lucy! We will kick your ass!"

The cheering of the guild at Erza and Natsu's twin statements was all that could be heard until the chilling voice came back saying, "Then you'll get an extra-large second helping of Jupiter! Quiver in fear for the 15 minutes it takes to charge!"

Natsu could hear the shocked and stunned murmurs of the guild at the Phantom leaders' statement. He thought to himself, '15 minutes? Plenty of time to get in there and wreck the cannon, but first…'

Before he could finish his thought, figures began streaming out of the Phantom guild and flying towards them. He heard someone shout, "It's **Shade!** That's Jose's magic!"

He grimaced and turned to Erza, "Hold them off for ten minutes. I'm going to eat the power of Jupiter that I absorbed in my sword and then me, you, Mira, and Gray are going to go in there and bring their guild to the ground."

He saw her nod and then ran to the back of the group and into the guild hall. He was surprised to see Lucy, Reedus, and Mirajane there as well. Mira was trying to convince Lucy to go to the safe house but she was resisting, wanting to fight with her guild. In the end Mira had to put her to sleep and Reedus carried her off to the safe house. Natsu blocked out everything, the noise of the fighting outside, the pain in his own body from the abuse it had taken, and the anger that coursed through his veins. He sat down in his meditative position and brought his sword up in front of him. The red runes that marked the level of power absorbed by his sword glowed and when he concentrated he could feel the immense power that he had absorbed. He focused with all his might on drawing the energy to the tip of his sword and forming the small golden dragon that he would eat.

In ten minutes it was done. He willed the dragon into his mouth and he gulped it down. The shock of the power filling him almost caused him to black out. He felt like a true dragon, with an endless supply of energy and magic deep within him. He stood up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror behind the bar. His eyes, instead of being their normal black, now seemed like flames superimposed on the whites of his eyes. He walked outside and could see the guild struggling to hold off the shades that were assaulting them. Many guild members were down all around but the more powerful were still up and fighting. He calmly walked over to the edge of the cliff and slashed horizontally with his sword, "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" The blast of flame he let out was so huge it instantly incinerated all of the approaching shades and everyone was able to take a breather.

He felt the wide eyes of his comrades on him as he said calmly, "Gray, Mira, Scarlet, we're going to go and rip Phantom's headquarters down stone by stone. There's five minutes left before the Jupiter cannon fires. I'll handle the cannon, everyone else go after their S-class mages."

They all nodded and then looked shocked when fire coalesced around Natsu and fiery wings sprung from his back. They swiftly carried him towards the Phantom headquarters. He heard Mirajane flying beside him in her **Satan Soul** form. Erza was right behind him after requipping into her **Black Wing Armor**. Gray was last and he shouted, "**Ice Make: Floor!**" creating a pathway to run on to the enemy guild.

Natsu headed straight for the opening of the Jupiter cannon, intending to fly down the barrel of the cannon and destroy its power source. It took him only moments to get there and he touched down lightly just inside the opening of the barrel. He charged down the barrel and in a few moments he emerged in a huge room that was dominated by the giant lacrima in the middle of it. Natsu dropped down to the floor and was about to destroy the lacrima when he heard a voice saying, "I cannot allow you to destroy this lacrima Fairy trash."

Natsu turned and saw a slender man with black and white hair and a horizontal stripe across his face. He carried a sheathed sword on his hip. Natsu asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"I am Totomaru and I manipulate the element of fire. All flames are under my control."

Natsu didn't say a word and charged at him, sending a flurry of strikes at the man who was barely able to draw his sword and block his strikes. Natsu knew he was at a disadvantage if this man could manipulate his flames so he wanted to get the fight over as quickly as possible. The bright cheery voice of the countdown of Jupiters cannon sounded out, "Three minutes until Jupiter fires."

He knocked Totomaru's sword high in the air and took one hand off of his own sword to upper cut Totomaru. While he was right next to the Totomaru and he was caught off guard, Natsu shouted, "**Roar of the Fire Dragon!**" hoping to hit him before he could manipulate the fire. The fire spewed out of his mouth and washed over the surprised Element Four member.

A few moments later he cut off the torrent of flames and was rewarded with the sight of Totomaru's body on the floor, twitching and unconscious. Natsu grinned and turned towards the giant lacrima that powered the cannon. "Two minutes until Jupiter fires."

Natsu slashed at the lacrima and shouted, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon**!" and in a roar of flames the lacrima shattered.

Natsu stood in the wrecked control room for the Jupiter cannon and grinned. 'Well that was pretty easy; if that guy's indicative of the Element 4 we shouldn't have any trouble taking them out. Now I just have to find Gajeel and kick his freaking ass.'

He was shaken from his thoughts by the cold voice of the Phantom leader, "Attention all you from Fairy Tail. Please listen carefully to this voice."

A scream of agony came over whatever spell Jose was using to enhance his voice. Instantly Natsu could tell it was Lucy's and he shouted at the empty room, "How the hell did that bastard get Lucy! I'm going to break his freaking legs."

The cold voice of Jose continued, "We have captured Lucy. So, we have accomplished one of our objectives. Thus, we have only one final goal that remains to be fulfilled. Wiping you off the face of this earth! You worthless brats!"

Natsu grimaced, certain that Jose could do that. He hoped that the others had been able to defeat the Element Four because he'd probably need help taking down Jose. He sprinted out of the room and into a random corridor and thought, 'Damn how am I going to find him? Maybe he's with Gajeel, I'll sniff him out, and even if he isn't with Jose I still have to beat him.'

He ran down the corridors trying to catch the scent of Gajeel and was awarded with a faint one. He grinned and followed it deeper into the Phantom headquarters. He encountered few Phantom mages and the ones he did he blew away without a second thought. He reached a tower and started climbing it, ascending as fast as he could. Gajeel's scent was getting stronger, and now he could pick up Lucy's scent as well. He reached a door and could hear agonized cries on the other side, coming from Lucy. His vision went red as he blew the door of its hinges in a burst flame and charged inside. He caught Gajeel by surprise and planted a flaming fist in Gajeels face, throwing him across the large room.

He could see Lucy, leaning against the wall, with the evidence of a brutal beating all over her body. His rage grew by leaps and bounds and in moments his form and his blade were wreathed with fire. "Gajeel! Get your sorry ass out here so I can destroy you!"

He saw Gajeel step out of the dust and grin, "I thought I caught your scent Salamander."

They charged each other, Gajeel punching and kicking with his iron limbs, Natsu recklessly swinging his flaming sword in a wild rage. They continued, trying to land a blow when Natsu felt a sudden flash of danger and leapt back, narrowly avoiding Gajeel's arm, which had turned into a sword.

He said, "That's a dangerous looking thing you got there."

Gajeel only grinned, "**Sword of the Iron Dragon!** There's nothing that won't be cut to shreds when hit with this." The spikes that were spaced along the sword began to move, and then rotate around the sword faster and faster until they were a blur.

Natsu thought, 'Whoo, my sword might be able to stand up to that but if he gets one hit on me I'm done for."

Gajeel charged him and swung his sword arm at Natsu who swiftly dodged and attempted to counter but Gajeel did the same. Gajeel swung overhand at him and he blocked, barely. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards and he had to use his sword to stop his momentum. He grinned, "Not bad metal head."

Gajeel growled at him, "That's just the preliminaries, let's finish this Salamander."

"Bring it on you scrap iron bastard. Feel the flames of my wrath!"

A magic circle appeared under Gajeel and his skin suddenly turned into iron scales. Natsu thought, 'Tch, that won't save him.' and shot forward, swinging his sword at the iron dragon slayer only for him to catch it on his forearm. Gajeel grinned and said, "Your attacks can't touch me." Like lightning he punched Natsu who was barely able to block with his arms and he was sent flying off into a wall.

He extricated himself from the rubble and could see the purple and black bruise Gajeel had given him, 'Shit that ups his attack and his defense. Let's see how he handles this though.' He stepped forward and shouted, "**Roar of the Fire Dragon!**" and at the same time he heard Gajeel shout, "**Roar of the Iron Dragon!**"

Their two breath attacks rushed forward and collided between them, coming to a standstill as they met and then blowing past each other and ourwards. The entire front wall of the room was blown away by the ferocity of their attacks. Natsu felt wind and iron crash into him. His clothes ripped and the sharp iron nicked at his body. When the breath attacks died out he stood there feeling all the cuts and bruises from the iron dragon slayers roar. Gajeel laughed, "Fire is nothing against steel, see. I didn't get hurt at all but you're all beat up!"

Natsu smiled, "You sure you're not groggy? Look again."

All of a sudden the scales across Gajeel's body cracked, "My fire isn't just normal fire. The flames of the fire dragon can destroy anything."

He could see Gajeel huff in anger and said, "I'm done with feeling you out. It's time to get serious."

Gajeel smirked, "Fine then. Bring it."

Natsu let all of his power rush to the surface and flames exploded outwards from him, become a pillar of fire that burst through the roof and high into the sky. Gajeel did something of the same, a deadly green aura surrounding him. They blurred forward and sent attacks at each other faster than the eye could see. Natsu could feel his sword, fists, and feet all scoring hits on Gajeel. He could also feel it when Gajeel's iron fist hit him. They fought around the room, faster than the eye could see and then broke off both of them breathing hard. Both of them glanced at the massive hole they'd created and their reactions, while intense, varied widely. Gajeel grinned and started letting out his maniacal laugh. Natsu cursed and gritted his teeth in anger. They watched as one of Jose's giant shades pounded the Fairy Tail guild into dust, and as the Fairy Tail mages left there could do nothing to stop it.

Gajeel howled, "Look at that trash. You're guild has fallen you can't win now."

Natsu gave him a cold, dead look, "If you think that because the guilds building is gone I'll roll over and die you're sadly mistaken. To truly destroy Fairy Tail you'd have to destroy the members, and every one of them is still out there fighting. So if you think you can still take me then shut up and let's fight."

Gajeel shrugged and looked around before breaking off a piece of iron and shoving it in his mouth chewing noisily. Natsu cursed internally, 'So he thinks he's going to regain his energy, not so fast.'

While Gajeel was distracted with his iron meal, Natsu charged forward shouting "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" letting out a blast of flame at his opponent. In the moment that Gajeel was distracted, having been interrupted from his meal and trying to block the attack, Natsu blurred behind him and shouted "**Sword Horn of the Flame Dragon!**" swinging his sword powerfully into Gajeels back and blowing him away in a blast of flame.

Gajeel slammed into a pillar, and when he staggered back upright Natsu said coldly, "Don't think that because you've survived two encounters with me you can survive a third." He was about to rush forward when Gajeel held out his hand and a magic circle appeared, "**Spear of the Iron Dragon: Demon Poles!**" Pillars of iron shot out at Natsu and he was suddenly on the defensive again, blocking and dodging the poles. He felt one hit his stomach and it knocked the breath out of him, and he was sure he'd have a bruise there the next day.

He shrugged it off and charged back at Gajeel throwing strike after strike that the iron dragon slayer was barely able to block and dodge. He finally struck a solid blow and blew Gajeel back in a burst of flames. He watched as Gajeel slowly got to his feet and said, "It's over."

Natsu raised his sword above his head and channeled his flames into it. Fire began to roil around it and as it swirled around the blade began to separate from it and become its own separate blade of pure fire. He created 12 blades of fire and changed his own blade into its fiery form.

"**Secret Dragon Slayer Art: 13 Blades of Piercing Fire!**"

Natsu flung his sword of fire at Gajeel and the other blades of fire followed it. Each one pierced Gajeel and detonated in a massive explosion of flames that engulfed most of the room and blew out the rest of the walls. Natsu moved swiftly to scoop up Lucy and keep her out of the backwash from his attack.

When the flames settled her set her down and walked over to where Gajeel lay, utterly defeated and unconscious, with massive bruises and burns all over his body. Natsu's sword was sticking point first out of the ground next to him and he walked over to pull it out, enjoying its familiar weight before sheathing it. He stared down at Gajeel's unmoving body, "It's 100 years too early for you to be fighting me punk."

He walked calmly over to where Lucy was sitting, staring at him wide eyed. She asked, "How did you beat him so easily! He's their strongest mage!"

He grinned and winked, "I had a snack before coming."

She looked confused but he didn't elaborate any further. He said, "Come on, we need to find everyone else and then go beat down Jose."

Lucy asked, "Who else is here?"

"Gray, Mira, and Scarlet all came to save you."

She smiled and looked down shyly, "Thank you."

Natsu laughed, "Don't thank me yet, we're not done by a long shot."

He grabbed her hand and ran out of the destroyed room, pulling her along. He felt a rumbling coming from elsewhere in the castle and thought, 'Someone's fighting over there, let's go see who it is.'

He ran down the hall with Lucy behind him. The rumbling continued as they ran but as they got closer they ominously stopped. Natsu could see a large room at the end of the hall that they were running down and could hear voices, although he wasn't close enough to make out who was speaking. They ran down the hall but Natsu stopped them as they neared the end, putting his back to the wall and peeking around the corner.

What he beheld before him was a scene that he could hardly comprehend. Mirajane and Gray were lying unconscious next to a large stone pillar. Erza was being held by some kind of evil purple spirit that was wrapped around her. Jose was laughing maniacally as he raised his hands and created two large magic circles and two more large spirits appeared. They floated in front of Erza and began to suck the life out of her as she cried out in agony.

Natsu had only seconds to make his decision and he turned to Lucy and said, "I'm going to go fight him, try and get to Mira and Gray. If you can, wake them up and have them get out you out of here. Titania and I should be able to take him."

He turned without letting her answer and unsheathed his sword thinking, 'Yeah right, I used up all the energy I got from Jupiter fighting Gajeel, and Scarlet already looks beat to hell, but no need to tell her that."

He silently charged, hoping that Jose wouldn't notice him. Luck wasn't with him however as Jose immediately turned his head to look at him. He switched tactics now that he knew a surprise attack wouldn't work and darted towards Erza, slashing at the spirit that held her up. He was rewarded with the dissolution of the spirit and Erza dropping to the ground next to him. She almost collapsed and he had to support her with an arm around her waist.

He muttered, "Come on Titania, I know you've got more in there. This is the last one. When we beat him we go home."

He glanced at him and growled, removing the arm that he had around her waist and trying to stay standing, swaying as she did.

Jose laughed, "So it seems that somebody has beaten Gajeel, I don't know who you are."

Natsu looked at him, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander."

Jose grinned widely, "A criminal joining Fairy Tail? You should have come to Phantom Lord if you wanted to join a real guild. The offer is open if you want it. Since you beat Gajeel you would be the most powerful next to me."

He saw Erza out of the corner of his eye look at him in horror thinking that he would betray her and the guild by accepting the offer. Natsu sighed, "No, I'm fine where I am now. I just built myself a nice house and I'm not inclined to move."

A look of rage passed over Jose's face and he spat out, "So be it. Die along with the rest of the Fairy scum."

Jose raised his hands and channeled energy into them, firing a line of purple death at Natsu and Erza. Natsu pushed Erza to the side and dove the other way, narrowly avoiding the spell. He charged at Jose intending to cut him down but the Phantom leader sent another bolt of purple energy at him. Natsu raised his sword to absorb it but when he did any forward momentum he had disappeared. It was all he could do to hold his ground as his sword absorbed the spell. He saw a small red rune appear near the base of the sword and thought, 'Shit in one attack? If I don't end this quickly it will go bad. I hope Scarlet is doing something.'

His hopes paid off when the spell was suddenly cut off as Jose had to focus on Erza behind him. She was in her **Black Wing Armor** and was slashing at Jose at a speed that even Natsu couldn't see. While Jose was distracted Natsu drew in a deep breath and shouted, "**Roar of the Flame Dragon!**" spewing a jet of fire at Jose's back. Erza saw what he was doing and flew high into the air to avoid being caught up in it. Fire engulfed Jose, but when Natsu cut it off he could see that his opponent was unharmed.

The Phantom leader laughed and said, "Is that all you have Salamander? Gajeel must be slipping if you beat him."

Natsu growled and charged him again. Erza and Natsu got to Jose at the same time but for all their best efforts they weren't able to hit Jose. The Phantom leader held out his hands and magic circles formed, shooting purple waves of energy at both Erza and Natsu. Natsu was able to absorb the one shot at him into his sword, causing another small red rune to appear, but Erza took the brunt of hers and was sent crashing into a pillar.

Jose laughed maniacally, "You cannot hope to beat me you Fairy Trash. I will wipe you from the face of this planet!"

Natsu gritted his teeth and charged again, trying to find some way to hit Jose, but every time he would be blocked by a blast of energy that would add another little red rune to his sword. In just a few minutes his sword had absorbed the same amount of power from fighting with Jose as it had in a few seconds with the Jupiter cannon. Natsu thought to himself, 'I can't keep this up, he's going to win.'

He jumped high into the air and shouted, "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" sending flames down at Jose trying to distract him. He glanced over and saw that Mira, Gray, and Lucy were gone, 'I hope they got out of here.'

He darted over to where Erza was lying and put an arm around her, picking her up, and trying to move towards the tunnel he'd come out of. Jose shouted, "Running away Salamander? I don't think so, **Dead Wave!**"

Natsu held up his sword to try and absorb the attack but he couldn't stop the energy in it from blowing him and Erza against a pillar. He groaned when the attack was over and glanced at his sword, seeing red runes all the way from the base of the sword to the tip, 'That's it; I can't block any more of his attacks.' He slumped to the ground with Erza beside him.

Jose screamed, "Now die!"

In the moments before Jose cast his spell a crack of thunder was heard, and a soft light filled the previously dark room. He could feel the pain from his bruises and cuts fade away. Jose lowered his hands and smiled grimly, looking off over Natsu's shoulder at something. Natsu turned his head and saw Master Makarov, eyes glowing yellow, floating down from the broken ceiling.

He began without preamble, "Much blood has been spilled. Children's blood. Because of their parent's failure, the children have suffered and shed tears. Enough of this, you and I. We must put this to an end."

The air around Jose darkened and he momentarily closed his eyes. When they reopened, the whites had gone completely black, "Do you want to cause a disaster?"

The sheer power that began to come off of Master Makarov shook the stones around him. "If it's for the sake of my guild!"

They threw powerful magics at each other and Makarov was suddenly in front of Natsu and Erza, shielding them. He said, "Get away from here!"

Natsu could only nod and back away slowly sheathing his sword. He had to stop to pick up Erza as she had been knocked unconscious by Jose's last blow. He picked her up bridal style and ran from the room. He didn't think he had enough energy to do the wings of fire again, 'Hell, I'm not even sure how I did that. That Jupiter energy was crazy.'

He ran until he found a gaping hole in the wall. Somewhere along the line a fight had blown it away and he could see the ruins of the guild hall and the rest of its members standing near the cliff still fighting off Jose's phantoms. He took a moment to think and then a grin spread over his face, 'I really hope this works or this is going to be a short flight.'

He gently let flames coalesce near his feet and took off, floating in mid-air. He leaned forward and floated slowly out of the Phantom guild. He was floating over the water when Erza woke up and weakly said, "What the hell Salamander, put me down."

Natsu was so surprised that he lost his concentration and nearly fell but was able to stabilize himself. "Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate." He growled at her.

She slowly turned her head to look down and then realized where they were. Natsu guessed she decided to do what he said because she wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself and didn't say another word.

They touched down at the edge of the cliff but Natsu lost his balance and fell forwards on top of her. He grinned at her, "This feels slightly familiar."

She groaned and said, "Get off me; I don't have the energy to move you."

He did, flopping over on his side just in time to see a bright light flash before his eyes. A giant magic circle had appeared above the Phantom guild and was now emitting a brilliant light that engulfed the entire building. He gaped at the power of it and asked Erza, "What is that!"

She smiled and said, "Fairy Law. Righteous light that slays the darkness. It only slays that which the caster believes is the enemy. It's a super powerful magic that is now counted as legend."

He lay back down as the light disappeared and gave a laugh, "Remind me never to piss off the old man."

* * *

><p>A week later Natsu sat at the temporary bar that had been erected in the construction zone that was the Fairy Tail guild hall. He drank a mug of ale as he talked to Lucy, "So Loke was a spirit eh? He's one tough bastard for being able to stick it out for three years in the human world."<p>

She smiled, "Yep, He's Leo the Lion, and now I have a contract with him."

Suddenly Loke materialized behind them and swept Lucy off the barstool and into his arms, "Come Lucy, we must talk about the future!" He ran off with her. She was beating her fists into his chest and shouting for him to let her down but he never did until they were out of sight.

Natsu just chuckled and turned back to his ale, "How can they have so much energy after this week."

He thought back on all the trouble that it had been. First the rune knights had showed up, and that had been a lot of fun. They'd actually held him for three days straight questioning him about the incident. Apparently being a former criminal, even one who's on probation and cleared of his crimes, doesn't earn you much in the council's books. Nothing had come of it though, and Fairy Tail got off because Phantom had attacked them first.

Everyone had finally recovered from their wounds from the battle and Natsu was thinking about taking a job now that the job board was back up. He flagged down Lisanna who was behind the bar and asked, "Have you seen Titania? I'm thinking about going out on a job and she has to come with me for those."

Lisanna chuckled at the cross look on his face, "No, I haven't seen her at the guild today."

Natsu just shrugged and went back to his drink, 'Well it's not like I'm short on funds. I've got enough for a few months stashed away even after building the house.'

He went back to his drink and was taking a long pull from it when he scented Lucy come up behind him. He swiveled around on the chair and saw her with a giant smile on her face holding four tickets. He looked at her quizzically, "What are those?"

She smiled at him, "They're tickets to Akane resort! Loke gave them too me since he doesn't need them anymore. He already gave Erza hers, so I'm going to invite Gray, Mirajane, and you to come to the resort, as a thank you for coming in to Phantom to save me."

Natsu got a panicked look on his face, "Stay at a resort with Erza and Mira? They would kill me within an hour!"

Lucy sensed his hesitation and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout, "Please Natsu? It will be a lot of fun!"

After a few minutes of pleading Natsu finally gave in and Lucy hugged him, "Yay! Thank you!"

He grumbled and stood up to go start packing. He saw Erza pull a giant cart of luggage into the guild and she called, "Let's go everybody! Even if I must spend the week with a convicted criminal I shall endeavor to have fun regardless!"

He walked past her to the entrance to the guilds, waving his hand nonchalantly and saying, "Yeah yeah, it's not like spending a whole week with you at a resort is high on my list of things to do either."

She snorted at him but ignored his comment.

As he got to the entrance he turned back to her with a sly smile on his face, his entire body tensed to run, "Oh, and Scarlet?"

"What?"

"You looked great in that pink towel."

Before she could do or say anything, Natsu disappeared in a flash leaving behind the laughter of the guild, and a furiously blushing Erza.


	10. Chapter 10

Natsu groaned as he flopped down onto the plush bed in the hotel room he shared with Gray. 'Who knew spending the day at the beach with three beautiful women could be so tiring.'

He'd been the picture of politeness to Erza, but had actually had a good time with Mirajane, Lucy, and Gray. What had done him in was the ride on the raft out at sea. In a moment of weakness he'd let them drag him onto it and he hadn't been quite right since.

Gray walked into the room with Mira and grinned at him, "Hey, let's go to the casino, I'm sure that'll cheer you up." He glanced over and saw that they were both dressed up for the occasion, Gray in a red shirt and loose tie, and Mira in a tight black dress that ended just above her knees. He waved his hand in the air and said, "Nah, I have to recover from the ride on that death trap. Plus I don't have anything near as nice as that so I think I'll skip out on the casino this time. I'm also not sure if they've taken down all the wanted posters of me around these parts."

Gray laughed and said, "Whatever man, if you change your mind you know where to find us."

He grunted his acknowledgement and heard the door close. A few minutes later he was relaxed enough to fall asleep, exhausted from his long day.

An hour later he woke up with a start, feeling a pit form in his stomach at the flash of magic he had just felt. 'Oh shit, that better not be who I think it is.'

He rushed around throwing on his clothes and strapping his sword on before sprinting out of the room and down to the casino. He stopped when he saw an impenetrable wall of darkness in front of him. 'Yep that's him. This just turned into the worst vacation ever.'

He plunged into the darkness, using his powerful sense of smell to direct him to where he knew Simon was. His nose led him to a large room, but suddenly Simon wasn't there anymore, and his scent was coming from another place. Natsu growled and set off again, occasionally bumping into people or walls.

Suddenly the darkness ended and Natsu was standing at the entrance to a large room with six people in it. Four of them had their backs to him, one of them was facing them, and one was on the ground, tied up in Milliana's strange magic tails. He recognized all of them: Simon, Wally, Milliana, and that bastard Sho.

He could hear them talking to Erza, 'Damn she looks good in that dress.'

He stepped into the room with a grin and said, "Yo, Simon."

All four of them whirled around at him and their gazes hardened when they saw who it was. Erza had a shocked look on her face, presumably from his knowledge of her old friends.

Simon looked surprised, "Salamander, What are you doing here?"

Natsu smirked, "Well now, I'm on vacation with my guild, and it seems that you're interrupting it. I think I should be asking you why you're here."

Simon growled, "Stay out of it Salamander, this is not your business."

Natsu stared at him coldly, "Like the last time it wasn't any of your business? Payback is a bitch Simon."

Suddenly Sho stepped forward and started to say, "Get out of here Sala…"

He didn't finish before Natsu turned his head to him and interrupted, "Get out of my sight you cowardly piece of trash." In an instant he had drawn his sword and sent a burst of flame at Sho, knocking him backwards and slamming him into a wall.

Natsu inhaled deeply, "Ahhh, that felt good. Next time Sho, think carefully before you stab somebody in the back."

He then turned to Milliana, "Loose your magic from Lucy, now, before you get the same as Sho."

She looked at him fearfully and then complied, the catlike tails that bound Lucy disappeared and she slowly stood up.

He turned back to Simon, "Now, you know that you don't have the power to fight me straight on. Tell me, what are you doing here?"

Simon met his eyes with a cold stare, "We have orders from Jellal, we're taking Erza back to the Tower of Heaven."

Natsu shook his head, "Not going to happen. Anything that Jellal want's, I'm opposed to. Plus you know, I can't have you go around kidnapping guild mates.

Erza shouted at him indignantly, "This really is none of your business Natsu, they're… they're right in taking me back." She sat down heavily on one of the bar stools and whispered, "They're right, I did betray them."

Simon stepped forward and said, "There you see, she's coming with us."

Natsu sighed, "No, she's not. Look at her; she's obviously got a huge amount of guilt weighing her down from whatever happened to you back then. But, I don't care about that right now. I'm going to get my payback from when you bastards tried to kill me."

Erza said from her seat, "Stop Natsu , just stop. They were my friends and I betrayed them."

Natsu looked at her in shock, "And what are we in Fairy Tail. Is Lucy your friend? Aren't Gray and Mirajane your friends? Am I your friend?"

She looked at him, "Lucy, Gray, and Mirajane are friends, and you are a passing acquaintance."

Natsu glared at her, "After all that's happened you still won't accept me? Maybe I should just let them take you, stubborn woman. After you have attacked me again and again, physically and verbally, and I have done nothing since joining your guild that would warrant it, you still have the arrogance to denounce me? She's right Simon, take her to Jellal. He'll only torture you and kill you to get what he wants. She cares more for someone that has betrayed her and tried to kill her than someone that has saved her life more than once."

Everyone in the room looked stricken at his outburst as he stood in the entryway, little jets of flame coming off the sword in his hands.

Lucy said quietly from across the room, "Erza, he's right. You've treated him terribly since he joined and he's done nothing to deserve it. He even saved your life from Jose."

Erza looked like she was being torn in two, her conscience warring with the frozen heart that wouldn't allow anyone to get close enough to betray her again.

Everyone heard a cough from the corner where Sho was, "How dare you talk to sister like that!"

Natsu was looking for somebody to take his rage out on, "Didn't I tell you to get out of my sight!" He sent another blast of flame at Sho, sending him crashing through the wall and into another room.

He turned to Simon, "What does Jellal want with her?"

Simon said, "He's going to use her as the sacrifice for the R-system to revive Zeref."

He looked at Erza, "See, that's what Jellal wants with you, and you're going to go willingly."

She had tears shining in her eyes as she looked at her old friends, "Why are you doing this?"

Wally was the one that answered, "You betrayed us sister, you left, and now Jellal wants you back."

Simon piped in, "Actually Wally, it wasn't Erza that betrayed us, it was Jellal."

The room went silent and tension crackled through the air, as Milliana and Wally gaped at Simon. Wally spoke, "But Simon… Jellal said…"

Simon shook his head, "How could you believe Jellal after what he's done? How could you not believe in Erza after everything she did?" He turned to Erza, "Tell us what really happened."

Natsu stayed silent, knowing that he was about to understand why Erza hated him so much.

She told them everything, throwing in the background details for Lucy and Natsu. She told them everything about the dark cult that enslaved them, the building of the tower of heaven, the rebellion, and the final betrayal by Jellal.

Natsu stood silently through it all, one hand white knuckled as he gripped his katana, the other balled into a fist, partly because Sho had crawled back into the room while Erza was talking, partly because he hated Jellal, and partly because he was still angry at Erza.

The room was silent as she finished her story.

Natsu broke the silence, "Well, let's go pay Jellal a visit, give him a beat down, and call it a day."

Simon agreed, "Yes, we must stop Jellal from activating the R-system."

Natsu called over to Lucy, "Go find Gray and Mirajane, bring them here and then we'll set out."

She nodded and ran out of the room. Erza sat quietly on the stool. Sho groaned over in the corner, probably at both the pain and the fact that his whole life had been called into question. Natsu looked at Simon, "We're in a temporary alliance now, but only until we beat Jellal. You and I will have a reckoning after this."

Simon nodded, "But leave the others out of it, they were only acting under my and Jellal's orders."

Natsu sighed, "Fine, I haven't beaten Sho enough for that scar he gave me, but I'll take it out of your hide instead."

Erza looked at him and said, "How do you know each other?"

Natsu grimaced, "Well about two years ago…"

* * *

><p><em>Natsu stood on a hill overlooking the village of Kiroshi, 'Morden Kato should be somewhere in that village. He's supposed to be the most knowledgeable person on lost magic there is, so maybe he knows something about Igneel.'<em>

_Natsu knew it was a long shot but he had to try. He was currently without a guild and wandering around without a guild was quite dangerous. He started walking towards the village, hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to locate the man. He arrived later in the evening, just as the sun was leaving the sky and darkness was setting in. _

_He decided to get a room for the night and found the nearest inn, which turned out to be the only one in town. As he walked into the common room he scanned the room, looking for potential threats. The people he found were threatening enough that he considered backing away slowly and camping outside of town. Five people sat at a table in the corner, he could hear them whispering but couldn't make out the words._

_The most powerful, by Natsu's reckoning, was the slim blue haired man. He had an odd tattoo on the right side of his face and something smelled off about him. The next threat was the large muscular man seated next to him, impassively surveying the room. He had a metal jaw, an eyepatch, and a white turban wrapped around his head. The other three, a guy with a blocky head, a woman who looked vaguely catlike, and a normal looking guy with tan skin and a small tattoo on his jaw, Natsu didn't consider a threat but when put together with the other two they could be bad news. _

_Natsu's instincts were screaming at him to back away, but the rational part of his mind screamed that knowledge of Igneel was on the table. In the end he listened to the rational part and ignored the five people in the corner. He walked over to the barkeep and asked, "Any rooms available?"_

_The man gave him a once over and then nodded saying, "500 jewels for a night, 2500 gets you a week."_

_Natsu pulled 500 jewels out of his pack, "I just need the night."_

_The barkeep took his money and left to go get the key. When he returned Natsu inquired, "I've heard that a man named Morden Kato lives in this town, would you happen to know him?" Natsu figured that he would catch more flies with honey than with vinegar in this town._

_The barkeep got a fearful look on his face and just for a second glanced over Natsu's shoulder, where the five people were sitting, "I don't know anyone by that name in this town."_

_He hurried away and when Natsu turned around the five had risen from the table and had somehow surrounded him without Natsu noticing. Natsu's back was too the bar and the blue haired man was in front of him. Iron Jaw and the tan one were on his right, and the block head and cat lady were on his left._

_Natsu waited for them to start and wasn't disappointed when the blue haired man said in a quiet voice, "What do you know about Morden Kato?"_

_Natsu decided to go with impudence, "Well, not a damn thing, that would be why I'm looking for him."_

_He heard the man with the iron jaw chuckle slightly, but the apparent leader frowned, "That's not really what I wanted to know." Suddenly the man's hand shot forward and he had picked up Natsu by the throat. "Tell me what you know. Now!" The blue haired man's eyes had changed, going from dark brown to red, and an odd symbol appearing there._

_Natsu was only mildly terrified, managing to keep his instincts in check. He was barely able to choke out, "He's knowledgeable about lost magic. That's what I want to talk to him about." _

_The man smiled, "Good." He then threw Natsu across the room and he slammed into the wall. As he was recovering he heard the blue haired man saying, "I don't need competition for that man's knowledge, Simon, kill him."_

_Natsu struggled to free himself from the rubble and when he did he was faced with only four people, the blue haired man having left. He focused on the biggest threat, the iron jawed man._

_He growled, "Who the hell are you people."_

_The man said, "I am Simon, this is Sho, Milliana, and Wally." He gestured to each of them in turn. "Who are you; I would know your name before you die."_

_Natsu drew his sword and said, "I am Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander."_

_They seemed to know his name and the man named Sho got a sudden look of abject terror on his face. Simon only nodded, "You will be a fearsome opponent Salamander, but you cannot hope to defeat all four of us."_

_Natsu grinned, "Three." The four off them looked a bit confused and Natsu made his move. He slashed at Sho shouting, "__**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**__" and sending a burst of fire at him that blew him back into a pillar. He charged at Simon, the most dangerous of the remaining three, and slashed at him, hoping to take him out quickly. He had no such luck when Simon jumped back and shouted, "__**Dark Moment!**__"_

_The entire room went black and Natsu stood stock still, trying to figure out what had just happened. He sensed something coming at him in the darkness and ducked. Something whipped over his head and impacted the wall behind him, blowing out a small portion of it. He stayed on the floor, sniffing to try and figure out where his opponents were. The scents for Milliana and Wally were over in one corner; however, the scent for Simon was directly in front of him. He popped up and charged at Simon, lighting his sword and hoping it would provide him with some light. _

_His sword flared up and he could see only about a foot in front of him. That was enough for him to see Simon's surprised face as he slashed at him yelling, "__**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**__" He had apparently caught Simon off guard as his sword connected and sent him rocketing back into through the wall and outside. His darkness spell was dispelled and he saw Milliana and Wally over in the corner, with surprised looks on their faces. He darted over there and knocked both of them out before they could react. He calmly walked over to where Sho was laying and noticed that he was still conscious. _

_He leaned over to see Sho's terrified face staring up at him. He put on a maniacal grin and said, "Boo!" This was too much for Sho and he passed out from pure terror. Natsu gave his normal grin and said to himself, "That wasn't so hard. I got lucky in surprising that Simon guy though."_

_He walked out of the bar and scented the crisp night air. He caught the scent he wanted and in a few short seconds had found where Simon lay in a pile of wall rubble. Simon was still conscious and Natsu asked, "Why are you in town and why did your leader try and have me killed?"_

_Simon said, "We are also looking for Kato, and Jellal didn't want competition for the man's knowledge."_

_Natsu grinned, "Well at least someone has the sense to tell me what I want to know before I have to beat it out of them."_

_Simon grinned weakly, "No point in not telling you, you wouldn't be able to fight Jellal."_

_Natsu shook his head, "You never know until you try."_

_He left Simon in the pile of rubble and walked out to the main road, sniffing the air. He found Jellal's foul scent and followed it to the edge of the village, where a small house sat apart from the rest. As he walked up to it the wall exploded and he saw someone fly out. When the dust had settled he saw it was a middle aged woman, with her neck broken, glassy eyes staring at him. He felt a small pit form in his stomach at the callousness of Jellal._

_He snuck into the house and saw a scene that was all too familiar. Jellal was holding a middle aged man, whom Natsu assumed to be Kato, against the wall by his throat saying "Tell me about the R-system, and the sacrifice it needs!"_

_As Natsu entered the house, as stealthily as he could, Jellal turned and looked at him frowning, "So it seems Simon wasn't enough to kill you then. No matter, I've gotten some of what I need already."_

_With that Natsu could see his arm flex and the man's gasps were suddenly cut off. Jellal released him and he collapsed to the ground his neck at an odd angle. Natsu cursed, "Damnit, I needed him!"_

_Jellal only smirked, and raised his hand towards Natsu. Before he could react Jellal had thrown a blast of golden light at him, blowing him out the open door. Natsu flipped around in the air and landed on his feet, although he skidded a good ten feet and had to use his hand to brace himself._

_He saw Jellal calmly exit the house with an insane smile on his face. Natsu stood straight and then settled into a combat stance, his sword held diagonally in front of him. He could see Jellal smirk, "You can't fight me boy. Leave now and I won't strike you down."_

_Natsu growled, "Shut up and fight me you freak."_

_Jellal kept grinning and shouted, "__**Meteor!**__"_

_A golden aura surrounded him and then suddenly he blurred and disappeared. Natsu was shocked for a moment but then felt a fist connect with his back and he was blasted forward. He fell forward and into a roll, popping up and then turning around to see Jellal grinning. Jellal blurred again but this time Natsu was ready, he scented the air and knew that Jellal was at his right. He turned and shouted, "__**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**__" releasing a blast of flame in Jellal's direction. _

_He felt a fist crash into his face and heard a whisper in his ear, "Too slow." before he was sent flying away. He hit the ground and rolled, finally coming to a stop when he used his sword to stop him. He got up, and saw Jellal was in front of him. Jellal grinned and shouted, "You cannot hope to win against a servant of Zeref, give up and die fool!"_

_Natsu grimaced, 'He's right, he's so fast though I'm not sure I can get out of here.'_

_He suddenly saw Simon appear next to Jellal and say something to him that Natsu couldn't quite make out. _

_Jellal frowned and then turned to Natsu. For some reason when he looked at Natsu he smiled again, "It looks like I don't get to kill you with my own hands, but rest assured you will die."_

_When Jellal said the word die, Natsu felt a sharp stinging sensation in his lower back, just to the left of the small of his back. A moment later he felt like his entire left side was on fire as something cold was shoved into his back. He gasped and turned his head seeing Sho crouched behind him, his hand on the dagger that was buried to the hilt in Natsu's back._

_Natsu howled in pain and swung blindly with his sword, with flames spewing off of it. He saw Sho duck and then run away in the direction of Jellal and Simon, who had in that moment been joined by Milliana and Wally. _

_Natsu berated himself, knowing that Jellal had only said that to distract him from Sho sneaking up behind him. He felt his vision blur but shook his head trying to get it back to normal. He saw them all stand there 20 or so yards away from him, Simon frowning, Sho with a terrified look on his face, Milliana and Wally mostly expressionless, and Jellal with that same insane grin that had been on his face since the beginning of their fight._

_He went down to one knee as he felt the strength leave his body, he heard Jellal shout, "Looks like you lose little boy, I can't have anyone finding out what happened here so it looks like I'll grant you a quick death instead of the slow on you're undergoing now."_

_Natsu watched as the group moved back and then Jellal flew high into the air, using his Meteor magic. A large magic circle appeared in front of him, Natsu didn't know what it was but he knew it was probably nasty. With the last of his strength he held his sword high into the air, still on one knee, and allowed flames to come spewing out of the tip, wrapping around him and obscuring his vision. He heard Jellal shout, "__**Abyss Break!**__" but before the spell could hit Natsu was teleported away._

_He found himself a few miles away from the town on a large hill. He could barely make out the tallest buildings of the town but as he looked on a huge explosion occurred, the light so bright that Natsu had to shut his eyes so that he didn't go blind. When he opened them a moment later he almost forgot about the dagger still in his back as what he saw before him stunned him. What had been rolling hills and pastures was now laid to waste. Nothing remained off the town, or the area around it except for huge rents in the ground and fires burning._

_Natsu shuddered and turned away, knowing he had to deal with the dagger in his back before he bled to death. He reached around and grasped the hilt, sending a jolt of icy pain throughout his body but he knew he couldn't pull back now. He ripped it out and used his other hand, having set it on fire, to cauterize the wound. _

_It stung, but not nearly as bad as having the dagger inside of him. After a moment he leaned forward, breathing heavily. He felt around the wound with his hand and was pleased that no more blood was coming out. He thought to himself, 'Alright, now time to find a doctor.' and limped off into the night._

* * *

><p>Natsu finished with, "It took me two days to walk to another town and by then I was almost dead from the pain, blood loss, and general shittyness of my situation. I was down for a month in that town. Thankfully my name but not my description had been posted in the village so I was able to escape the Rune Knight's notice."<p>

Erza was gaping at him, as well as the rest of his party who had come in during his story. Simon at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Natsu shrugged and said, "Well, I got a really nasty scar and an undying hatred of Jellal out of the encounter, so it's not like I came off completely awful."

Gray let out a strangled noise, "Really? You didn't come off completely awful? You barely escaped with your life!"

Natsu shrugged, "That's happened plenty of times, I don't take it too personally. Although with Sho it's personal. Hey Simon, can I fight him instead of you. You're alright, but he did stick a dagger in my back. Freaking coward."

Simon gave him a look and said wryly, "You already beat him up Natsu, if you want to fight you can fight me, after we stop Jellal."

Natsu grinned, "Hmmm. How about this, if we beat Jellal, I'll call it even, as long as I never see Sho's cowardly face again."

Simon smiled, "Done. You aren't so bad Salamander."

Erza glared, "Now that we're all done deciding who is fighting who, can we just get on with this?"

Natsu laughed, "Fine, fine. Simon, where's your boat?"

Simon turned and began walking out the door, the rest of his small group following him, although Wally had to help Sho along. Natsu looked around at his group and saw that they had addition, "Ummm. Who is the blue haired girl?"

The blue haired girl stepped forward and said, "Juvia is a free wizard, Juvia wishes to join Fairy Tail, to be with Gray."

Natsu glanced at Gray who was blushing, "We fought during the battle with Phantom Lord. She used to be part of their Element Four. She came to me and asked to join and we were talking about it when Lucy came and got us."

Natsu shrugged, "Well if she was part of the Element Four I bet she's pretty good. Plus she looks like she's got it bad for you Ice Princess so I bet she's being honest. If she wants to come she can, the more the better."

He began to walk out and follow Simon but Erza ran up to him and grabbed his arm whispering, "What are you doing Salamander? You aren't leading this group."

He shook her off, "I don't see you leading it Titania, and someone has to. If Jellal wants a sacrifice it means he's almost done with whatever he's doing, and that's probably a bad thing. Since I'm on the side of the angels now, even if it is personal, I'm going to stop him. We're going to go stop Jellal from doing whatever evil thing he's doing. You're too close to this one to lead objectively, and I know more about the situation than the others so I'll take the lead. Don't worry, you can have it back when all's said and done." He gave her cheek a pat, like you would after telling something important to a small child, and walked away.

He didn't let her respond as he yelled back at Mirajane, Gray, Lucy, and the new girl, "Alright guys come on."

They Fairy Tail wizards, plus one, quickly caught up to Simon and the others and after a few minutes they were at the boat. They boarded and he was the last one on, sighing as he felt the familiar pangs in his stomach.

They sailed through the night, Natsu quietly throwing up over the side, and when dawn broke in the sky they saw a large tower standing on a small island. Natsu asked Simon weakly, "So that's the Tower of Heaven?"

Simon gravely nodded, "Yes, that is what we have labored on for eight long years."

The ship was silent as they pulled up to the dock. Natsu looked at everyone on board, "Alright, Jellal probably knows what's happened so there's no point in sneaking around; we're going to walk in and beat him down."

They all nodded, except Erza, who had a hollow look on her face. Natsu ignored it, knowing her misgivings about the entire situation. He disembarked and the entire group followed him to where a giant door stood open at the base of the tower. Simon seemed shocked, "I can't believe he would be so blatant. It's like he wants us to come and fight him."

Natsu shook his head, "I bet he's an arrogant son of a bitch. He probably thinks he can take all of us. Either that or he has other people with him."

Simon nodded and moved up alongside Natsu. They walked through the door and down a long hall that ended in a large banquet room. There was a long table with huge amounts of food set out.

Natsu started laughing, "This guy is a piece of work. I bet none of that food is even poisoned, he wants us well fed when we fight."

He could feel the misgivings of the group behind him, the tension in the group slowly building. Suddenly a large statue at the end of the room began glowing, its eyes turning a virulent red.

All of them flinched a little when Jellal's voice boomed throughout the room, "Welcome, one and all to the Tower of Heaven. I am Jellal, the ruler of this tower. Both sides have arranged their playing pieces. So shall we begin, Heavens Game? The rules are simple. I wish to use Erza as a living sacrifice in a ceremony to revive Zeref. In other words, once the doors to heaven open, I win. But, if you are able to prevent that, then you win. However, that by itself wouldn't be a very fun game. So, I have brought three warriors here. The only way to reach me is through them. In other words, this is a three on ten battle royale. One final note, there is a chance that the council will attack this location from the satellite square, using Etherion the ultimate all-destroying magic. If Etherion hits it will mean destruction, game over, with no winners."

The entire party was silent for a moment, the enormity of Jellal's statements taking a long time to sink in. Natsu was the first to break the silence, "Damn him, we don't know if Etherion is going to fire so we can't just leave, but we can't know if it will fire while we're in here. That is one tricky bastard."

Natsu suddenly felt a flash of magic behind him and turned to look. Sho was holding up a card, with Erza on the inside of it and Natsu insides went cold. Sho shouted, "I won't let anyone touch Sis! I'll defeat Jellal myself!"

Before anyone could react he rushed off down a side passage and threw some cards over his shoulder. They stuck in the ground and let out a burst of magic the blinded everyone for a few key moments. When they were able to see again Sho was gone. Natsu immediately scented the air, trying to catch his scent but the cards had let off something that messed with his sense of smell, so he couldn't track Sho that way. Simon shouted, "Damnit Sho! You can't defeat him by yourself!"

Natsu growled, "That little bastard has messed up for the last time, if Jellal doesn't kill him I just might. He's going to freaking deliver Erza right to him. I can't track him through scent so we're going to have to search manually."

He started running down the passage with everybody behind him thinking, 'Damn this, I have to protect Titania from both of those stupid bastards.'


	11. Chapter 11

Natsu growled when he came into the next room. There were two large passages that branched off from this room, and he didn't know which one Sho had taken. He was loathe to split up the group, especially when he didn't know anything about the supposed three warriors Jellal had brought in. As the rest of the group came into the room he made a snap decision, "Mira, Lucy, new girl, Wally, Milliana, you guys take the left passage. Simon, Gray, and I will take the right one. Mira you have the lead."

Mirajane tried to argue with him, "The groups aren't even, we should even them out."

Natsu only looked at her coldly, "We don't have time to argue, this is the best way to split the group where both have an equal amount of power."

She grumbled but nodded, knowing that he was right. Natsu continued, "If you find Titania, get her out of here, have Milliana restrain her if you have too, but she can't face Jellal the way her head is right now."

Everyone voiced their agreement to that, and the groups separated, each running down its respective passage. Natsu, Simon, and Gray ran down the passage until they came into a huge room that had large bird cages hanging from the ceiling. They had to stop in the entrance because there was only a small ledge, rather than a floor. Natsu looked down and couldn't see the bottom.

A sudden voice jerked his attention back to the center of the room where a strange looking figure was standing on top of one of the cages. It had the body of a huge muscular man, but the head of an owl. It was also wearing a jetpack. Natsu felt a memory stir in his mind as the strange figure said, "Hoo hoo. I am Fukuro, the Warrior of Justice."

Natsu gave a grim smile, "Oh, You're part of Trinity Raven aren't you, the special assassin team from the dark guild Death's Head Cactus."

The owlman looked at him, "Hoo hoo. And you must be the Salamander. I had heard you were a great warrior of justice but you have fallen from our ranks. I must now eliminate you!"

Natsu scoffed, "Trinity Raven isn't anything worth being scared of."

Simon looked at him in shock, "These are the guys that assassinated every officer in the western army during the Cabrian war! They're definitely a force to be reckoned with."

"Who do you think took out all the officers in the eastern army? It's pretty hard to command an army when you're sitting securely in the other armies' prison. Killing is easy, sneaking through an army camp and kidnapping every one of their officers is hard."

Simon looked at him in awe, "That was you? Nobody ever knew who did that."

Natsu shrugged, "It was a job."

Fukuro said, "Hoo hoo. Your deeds of justice were indeed great, but now you must perish!"

Natsu snarled, "Bring it bird brain."

The dragon slayer leapt forward, using fire from his feet to propel him at the owlman. He drew his sword in the air and ignited it, slashing at Fukuro when he was close enough. Fukuro dodged and used his jet pack to launch him high into the air but was met by ice when Gray shouted, "**Ice Make: Lance!**"

The owlman was sent crashing into one of the cages and Natsu flashed a grin at Gray, "Good job ice princess."

Gray grinned back, "I'm only doing what you couldn't flame brain."

While they'd been exchanging insults Fukuro had stood up and said, "It's time for me to bring the hammer of justice down upon you!"

Natsu only looked bored. Fukuro bent forward slightly and shouted "**Missile Hoot!**"

Small magic circles appeared on the exhaust vents of his jetpack and flames roared out of them, sending the jetpack streaking at Natsu. Natsu yawned and held up his sword to block it and cut it in half.

What he didn't count on however, was his sword not cutting it in half, but instead cutting halfway through and getting stuck in it. He held onto his sword and the jetpack flew off, with him hanging onto it. He felt immediately sick as the jetpack flew around in circles.

The jetpack flew around for a minute and then crashed into one of the cages. Natsu didn't feel any need to stand up due to the fact that he really couldn't without puking. He lay on his back for three or four minutes as the strength slowly returned to his woozy legs. He stood up and staggered over to the huge hole that he had blasted in the cage. Natsu looked out and didn't like the scene in front of him. Simon was propped up against the wall with a huge bruise on his stomach; he looked down for the count. Gray stood atop a cage a few yards away from Fukuro, breathing hard with bruises all over his body.

Fukuro was laughing, "You cannot beat me, the warrior of justice!"

Natsu was behind the owlman and began motioning to Gray, hoping that he would get what Natsu was trying to say. Gray slowly nodded, never taking his eyes of Fukuro so as not to let their opponent know he was communicating with Natsu. He put his hands together and shouted, "**Ice Make:** **Hammer!**" The giant hammer of ice flew towards Fukuro forcing him to jump straight up to dodge. As he did Natsu shouted, "**Roar of the Fire Dragon!**" cupping his hands in front of his mouth and sending a huge stream of flames straight at where the bird man was headed. Without his jetpack, Fukuro couldn't maneuver in midair and so flew straight into the fire.

They heard the bird man scream and when Natsu cut off his fire, Fukuro's burned and blackened body fell down and landed heavily on top of a cage.

Natsu flashed a thumbs up to Gray and went and retrieved his sword. It took him a moment of wiggling it around to get it free, because it was lodged deeply in the jetpack. With a grunt he got it free and then walked back over to the hole in the cage. Gray was down on one knee, breathing heavily and Simon was struggling to stand up.

He hopped down towards the cage Gray was kneeling on and landed lightly. He said, "Good job Gray, sorry he took me out so easily on that one." Natsu had a mildly embarrassed expression on his face.

Gray shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Just be glad I was here to save your ass!"

Natsu grinned, "Whatever Ice Princess, I might owe you one."

He put out his hand and helped Gray to his feet. They hopped down to check on Simon who was just now getting to his feet, albeit with a lot of help from the wall. Natsu looked at both of them critically, "Alright guys, I think both of you need to get out of here. You're in no condition to keep going."

Gray muttered, "Like hell we're not, we're just fine."

Natsu shook his head, "When we get to Jellal you'll be more in the way than helpful. Go find the other group and get them out of here. We don't know when Etherion is going to hit but I have a gut feeling that it's coming. I'll keep going and fight Jellal, and if Titania is there i'll get her out."

Simon nodded while Gray kept grumbling, "You'll want to take the outside exit. There are stairs that go all the way to the top."

Natsu nodded and leapt away, headed for the exit in the other side of the room. He heard Simon shouting behind him, "Salamander! Promise you'll help Erza!

Natsu got to the exit and turned back and gave them a grin shouting, "Damn right I'll help Erza!"

He ran down a corridor that he hoped would lead him outside and for once he got lucky. He burst through an opening in the side of the tower, the light of the setting sun nearly blinding him. He looked around and saw stairs that led up the tower, curling around it and out of sight. He took off sprinting when he heard rumblings coming from inside the tower, near the top. 'Shit, Sho must have actually made it up there and is fighting Jellal. He's going to get his ass kicked and then Erza is dead meat.'

He ran as fast as he could up the stairs when suddenly something appeared in the sky above him. A large golden square was floating in the sky above the tower, revolving slowly. He felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck. 'That's satellite square; they're actually going to fire Etherion on the tower. We are so screwed.'

A blue light began to form inside the square as Natsu kept running up the side of the tower, 'I'm not going to make it in time, and there's no way I can get out of range.'

He stopped and pounded his fist against the wall in frustration screaming at the square, 'This is bullshit! You can't catch me for 5 years and now you're going to randomly kill me? I finally found a place to belong. I finally found someone to belong to! No. Screw this. I am not dying here."

He let fire form beneath his feet and then used it to blast off, rocketing upwards. Blue light had filled the square and was now becoming more intense. He was near the top where the rumbling had ominously stopped when Etherion fired.

Blue light crashed down on top of the tower, spilling over and engulfing Natsu. His senses were filled with nothing but the feel, smell, taste, sound, and sight of the purest destructive magic in existence. For what seemed like an eternity the blue light surrounded him and he thought, 'Why am I still alive, why isn't my body being reduced down to nothing?'

He felt like he was floating on air when the blue light finally dissipated. Instead he found himself laying on an outcropping of the tower. But it was no longer the tower he had originally seen; instead it was a shimmering blue crystal structure. He looked around and gasped when he realized what it is, "It's a giant lacrima... Jellal just absorbed the destructive power of Etherion into the tower."

His face paled with realization, "If he sacrifices Erza, he really will bring back the dark wizard Zeref."

He staggered to his feet, using his sword to help him stand up. He was near the top so he climbed up and peeked over the edge. What he saw didn't really shock him but set his blood boiling in rage. Erza was half in and half out of the lacrima crystal. It seemed to be sucking in her body as she desperately tried to escape it. Jellal was standing a few feet away with his back turned, chanting something.

Natsu had a decision to make, 'Do I hit Jellal while his back is turned and risk losing Erza to the lacimra or do I save her and alert Jellal?'

Natsu knew which one he had to do without really considering it.

He hauled himself up and launched himself straight. He flew about ten feet and stopped right next to where Erza was stuck in the crystal. He grabbed her hands and pulled her out, falling down on his ass. She ended up on her back with her head in his lap, and for some reason she wouldn't move. She was wearing an armor Natsu had never seen before. It wasn't really armor though. She wore loose flowing red pants with stylized orange flames at the bottom. She had nothing on her chest but bandages wrapped around her breasts.

"Yo. Looks like you're having some trouble here."

She looked at him, tears running down her face, "How… Why are you here?"

"I'm a Fairy Tail mage."

By this time Jellal had looked back and had a mildly annoyed look on his face, "Ah, so one of you is still alive."

Natsu and Erza ignored him. Erza said quietly, "Natsu, just go. You can't defeat him."

Natsu gave her a calm look, "You still doubt me?"

Tears leaked out of one of her eyes, "No… but just go, there's nothing you can do here."

Natsu stood up, with her limp body's arms wrapped around his neck so she stood up with him, "There's plenty I can do." He struck her in the stomach and in her weakened state she began to drift into unconsciousness, "Starting off with saving you."

Natsu gently laid her body down and turned to face Jellal who said, "You're even foolhardier than the rumors say. Are you satisfied hurting your friend that couldn't even move?"

Natsu stood impassively, "Erza doesn't consider me a friend."

Jellal grinned, "So you think you're going to save her and earn her friendship?"

Natsu shrugged, "I wouldn't mind it going that way, although I think you ruined that for everybody Jellal."

Jellal began laughing, "Yes, you're probably right. It doesn't matter though, neither of you will be leaving this tower alive."

Natsu gave a cold smile as flames began spiraling around him and his sword glowed white hot, "You'll regret laying a hand on Erza. Now, feel the flames of my wrath!"

Natsu shot forward his sword held out in front of him, intending to impale Jellal with it. Jellal nimbly sidestepped but Natsu stabbed the tip of his sword in the ground and used it to swing around shouting, "**Talons of the Fire Dragon!**" His feet burst into flame and one of them connected viciously with Jellal's face, sending him flying. Natsu tugged his sword out of the ground and again shot towards Jellal's flailing body. He shouted "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" striking Jellal and sending crashing into the lacrima that had once been about to absorb Erza.

As Jellal impacted Natsu shouted, "**Roar of the Fire Dragon!**" and flames shot from his mouth to engulf the blue haired man. After a moment Natsu cut off the flames and looked at Jellal.

Jellal was standing in front of the lacrima, grinning madly and hardly looked like he'd been touched. He shouted, "Is that all Salamander? I wanted to see if you had improved but you've not made a single step forward! How dare you interrupt the ceremony… I will obliterate you with my heavenly body magic, **Meteor!**"

Jellal's eyes glowed red and a golden glow surrounded his body. Natsu thought, 'Shit. I need to concentrate.'

Jellal blurred out of his vision and Natsu scented the air trying to find him. He caught his scent behind him, just as a fist was driven into his back and he was thrown forward. Before he could catch his bearings and try to steady himself, Jellal punched him again, and then again, never letting him catch his balance. Jellal shouted, "You will never land another attack on me again!"

He flitted around in front of Natsu and before he could raise his sword to defend himself, Jellal sent a flurry of punches at him, hitting him an innumerable amount of times and sending him crashing into the floor.

Jellal had a look of hatred on his face as he shouted, "This is the end, I will show you true destructive magic!"

He flew high into the air and put his hands together shouting, "**May the seven stars bring judgment upon you!**" Seven magic circles appeared in the sky, with light arcing between them. Jellal continued, "**Seven Star Sword… Grand Chariot!**"

Beams of light shot down from the sky at Natsu and he desperately held his sword up, trying to absorb the magic. That didn't happen as the beams didn't strike directly at him, but struck the ground in the pattern of a constellation, causing a massive explosion around Natsu's body.

Natsu was thrown into the air and then landed back on his stomach, his sword clattering down a few feet away. Jellal touched down lightly a few feet away from him saying, "That spell has as much power as a meteor strike. I'm impressed his body is still intact. I guess I went a little overboard. I can't afford to damage the R-system anymore."

Natsu heard Jellal walking away and decided that if Jellal wasn't going to damage the tower, then maybe he would. He pushed himself up, his body screaming at him with every minute movement. He said to Jellal's back, "Well if you're going to beat me, I can at least take away your tower." He saw Jellal turning as he smashed his fist into the tower, causing huge cracks to appear.

Jellal turned and saw what Natsu had done, "You… you damn brat! I'll put an instant end to you!"

Natsu quickly moved to pick up his sword and held it out in front of him, "I'm pretty confident in my toughness. What will break first, me or the tower?"

Jellal had a manic look on his face as he shouted, "You will regret defying me all the way to hell!" He raised his arms and a magic circle appeared, sending beams of light shooting at Natsu. The dragon slayer moved quickly, dodging each one of them and when they were past he charged towards Jellal. He was seconds away from striking him when Jellal slashed his hand across his body, sending a huge beam of light at Natsu. He heard Erza shouting his name and thought, 'When the hell did she wake up?'

He was barely able to raise his sword in time to block and absorb the attack, but he was still pushed back, his feet sliding along the tower. He decided that he'd attack the tower when the attack was fully absorbed and when it was and shouted, "**Piercing Blaze of the Fire Dragon!**"

His sword turned into flames, flickering in his hand as he stabbed it into the tower creating a massive fissure. Flames exploded outwards, doing as Natsu hoped and destroying more of the tower. When the flames cleared Natsu could see the look of abject hatred on Jellal's face.

"I spent eight long years constructing this tower and now you've gone and done this!"

Natsu stood up using his sword to support him, he gave a grin, "Tough luck Jellal, if you're sending me too hell I'm going to do some damage before I go."

Jellal shouted, "You will pay!" and raised his hands above his head, a magic circle appearing there. A gust of wind blew up around the tower from the power of the spell he was casting, causing Natsu to have to hang onto his sword before he was blown backwards. He looked on in horror and thought, 'What is this sickening magic that I'm feeling?'

Something began forming in Jellal's hands but Natsu couldn't get a good look, as a flash of scarlet blurred across his vision. Erza was standing in front of him, arms spread wide in a protective position, and she shouted, "Jellal! Can you really kill me? You need my body to revive Zeref don't you?"

Jellal's spell began to lose power as he said "Yes. The general requirement is a body about on par with one of the ten wizard saints." He paused a moment, "But it no longer needs to be you. Both of you shall be obliterated."

The spell began powering up again, what seemed like a black hole was swirling around in Jellal's raised hands.

Natsu shouted, "Erza! Move! I can protect myself!"

She said without turning, "If I can't protect my comrades then you're right, Jellal should have me."

He lunged towards her shouting, "Move!" as Jellal shouted, "**Heavenly Body Spell: Altairis!**"

Time slowed as Natsu moved forward trying to shove Erza out of the way as the spinning black ball sped towards them.

It never impacted them; rather, it impacted the person that had jumped in front of both of them. A huge magic circle appeared in front of Simon, as he tried with all his strength to protect Natsu and Erza from the oncoming spell.

A huge explosion occurred, blinding Natsu but not hitting him as all of its power was taken by Simon. When Natsu was able to open his eyes he could see Simon, his shirt and sash blasted away and his entire back covered in bruises. He heard Erza stutter out, "Simon…"

Simon began falling backwards and he whispered, "Erza…"

He hit the ground and Natsu stood frozen as Erza rushed to him and knelt down beside him.

Jellal stepped forward and said, "You were still crawling around here you little pest?"

Erza was saying, "Why didn't you escape Simon?"

Simon choked out, "I'm glad… I always wanted to be helpful to you someday."

Erza was crying, "I understand, just please don't talk anymore!"

The dying man choked out, "You were always so kind…"

Natsu could see the moment that Simon died in the scarlet haired woman's arms. She was sobbing and calling his name and when his body went limp she gave an agonized scream.

Jellal began laughing. He bent over with his hands on his knees laughing like a maniac. He shouted, "Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous. That was the very definition of dying for nothing Simon! Nothing will change. Nobody is leaving here alive!"

Natsu moved without thinking, blurring forward to strike Jellal in the stomach and sent him flying back into an outcropping. He thought to himself, 'Screw it. I'm going to do it and damn the consequences.'

He chipped off a large piece of the Etherion infused lacrima and brought it too his mouth, biting into it. As soon as he bit into it he felt his body become infused with power. He felt power flow into him, more power than he had felt when he had eaten the power of the Jupiter cannon. He felt as if he could destroy anything with a twitch of his hand.

Suddenly he began choking, his body rejecting the lacrima. He heard Erza shout, "What are you doing you fool! The ether-nano has more elements of magic than just fire in it!"

He could hear Jellal laughing, and his rage blossomed even further inside him. He pulled on his deepest wells of willpower, letting that and his rage take over his body. He felt himself begin to accept the ether-nano as his flames began to absorb its power instead of rejecting it. He knew that Jellal was looking on in horror as flames spiraled around his body and his sword. His skin began to turn into scales, and his canines elongated and became sharper.

Natsu shot forward, sending a flaming punch into Jellal's stomach. As the blue haired man flew backwards Natsu went with him. He grabbed him by the throat and forced him down to the floor. He pushed him threw the floor and they fell, Natsu forcing Jellal's body through each floor of the tower as he shouted, "I made a promise that I'd help Erza! I can't break a promise to a dead man!"

Jellal looked at him in disgust and shouted, "Impertinent boy!" He used his **Meteor** spell to shoot out from underneath Natsu and fly upwards shouting, "You'll never catch me at this speed."

Natsu didn't bother answering, using a large chunk of falling lacrima and a boost from his fire to send him rocketing upwards, driving the hilt of his sword into Jellal's stomach, his enraged face only inches away from Jellal's shocked one. He heard his enemy mutter, "Impossible"

Jellal recovered quickly though, spinning around and kicking Natsu in the face sending him crashing into the tower. Jellal landed and shouted, "I cannot be defeated! I will create a land of freedom! Amid my pain and terror Zeref whispered to me, he asked if I wanted true freedom. I am the chosen one! Together Zeref and I will create a world of true freedom!"

Natsu shouted back at him, "You can't create a world of true freedom through sacrificing others!"

Jellal jumped into the air and began sending streams of light at Natsu shouting, "The wish to change the world is the only thing that drives history. Why can't you understand that?"

Jellal pushed himself higher into the air and used his hand to draw a magic circle. It appeared and Natsu recognized it. He heard Erza behind him gasp, "Abyss Break!" She then shouted, "You're going to destroy the tower and everything inside it!"

Jellal laughed and said coldly, "I'll just spend another eight years building one, no, this time I'll do it in five. Zeref, your time shall come!"

As he was about to cast the spell though, Jellal gasped and clutched at his stomach where Natsu had struck him earlier. Natsu took the opportunity and rocketed forward at Jellal screaming, "Free yourself from Zeref before you even think about freeing others!"

He ignited his fist and punched Jellal in the face, sending him hurtling down at the tower with the force of a meteor. He crashed through every floor of the tower and finally landed unconscious at the bottom of it.

Natsu came down on the top of the tower heavily, sending up a large cloud of dust. When it cleared he could see Erza looking at him with a look of awe on her face. He felt a bit woozy but he smiled at her. She smiled back at him and he felt a flicker of feeling before he began to fall forward, completely exhausted. He felt Erza rush up and as he was on his knees falling down she caught him, embracing him saying, "Thank you, you truly are a Fairy Tail mage." He passed out feeling the warmth of her arms around him.

He awoke what seemed like an eternity later, but he realized could only have been minutes, maybe even seconds. He was still lying on the tower, but now it was shaking all around him. He woozily stood up and looked around, freezing at the sight of Erza with one hand inside the lacrima. He sputtered, "What are you doing?"

She turned with a surprised look on her face but then smiled, "This is the only way to stop Etherion."

Natsu looked confused as he muttered, "Stop the Etherion…"

Erza said, "Look around us, the Etherion is out of control and will destroy the tower any minute now. But if I fuse with the lacrima and restrain it…"

He interrupted her, "You're insane! Why would you do that!"

Natsu saw her cry out in pain as she was pulled deeper into the lacrima. He tried moving towards her to pull her out like he had before, but his body wouldn't respond, barely moving.

She said in a strained voice, "Don't worry, I will stop it."

He heard her cry out again as her entire lower body was pulled in and he was able to stumble and crawl to where she stuck out of the lacrima shouting, "Erza damnit stop this!"

He finally got there, falling down to his knees, out of breath and energy. Only the top half of her body and head were free of the lacrima. He looked up at her and she smiled, putting a hand on his check, "I can't live in a world without Fairy Tail. I can't even imagine a world without my friends. You've proved yourself to be one of those friends, no matter how hard I tried not to let you in. You are now important to me just like they are. If I can save you and save them, I won't hesitate for a moment." Her body began to be pulled into the lacrima and only her face was free when she said, "I will gladly give up this body."

She was absorbed into the lacrima and Natsu was left to stare as she fell deeper into it. He could see the tears coming out of her eyes, they clashed with the soft smile she had on her face. He pounded his fists against the lacrima finding it unyielding, all the while shouting, "Stop! I didn't save you just so you could sacrifice yourself a few minutes later! I just got you to accept me! You can't die now, not when I can finally break down the walls around your heart and make you love me!"

He saw her body disappear into the lacrima and for the first time since Igneel's disappearance, he felt something wet on his face, realizing that tears were leaking out of his eyes. Pure magic began exploding from the tower and he thought, 'No. It doesn't end this way. Hell. No."

He grabbed his sword and as the tower exploded and he was once again engulfed in Etherion's blue light, he changed it into pure flame and plunged it into the lacrima up to the hilt. He could feel himself being pulled away by the force of the Etherion which was flowing up into the air instead of out in an explosion. He grimly hung onto his sword, still stuck in the tower's lacrima.

He let go with one of his fists and ignited it, using the remnants of the power that Etherion had given him to make the fire hotter than he ever had. When he felt sure he could, he punched the lacrima with all his might, shattering a small section of it and sending his arm inside up to the shoulder. He felt an immense pain run up his arm and into his battered body but he gritted his teeth and kept going.

He reached as deep as he could into the lacrima, until he found what he wanted, a hand that he couldn't see, but could feel. He gripped that hand for all it was worth, knowing that it had to be Erza's. He used his left hand to rip out the sword, leaving his right handed grip on Erza as the only thing keeping him from floating away.

He held the sword high into the air above his body, and channeled everything he had into it. All of his rage, his hatred, and his repressed love, he put into the sword making flames spiral down around him. They engulfed his body and then moved down his arm into the lacrima. He felt it when his flames surrounded his hand and then moved down his connection with Erza to surround her as well. He used the rest of his energy to teleport them, he didn't have a destination, just somewhere that was away from the tower.

* * *

><p>The next thing Natsu knew, he was standing knee deep in water, with waves lapping around his legs. He felt a weight in his arms and looked down to see an unconscious Erza, one of his arms beneath her knees and the other wrapped around her shoulders. He tottered forward towards the shore which he could see was only a few feet away. As he did he felt Erza wake up and stir, but he didn't look down at her, grimly focusing on getting to the shore as he felt himself fading. He heard her say, "Wh-what's going on? Am I alive?"<p>

He felt her gaze on his face and when he finally reached the shore he collapsed to his knees, gently setting her down, and then lying on his back next to her.

He turned his head to look at her and she was doing the same thing, tears streaming out of both of her eyes. Natsu quietly said, "Don't ever do something like that again."

She smiled at him, "I promise. Thank you, Natsu."

He looked back up at the sky and said quietly, "I won't lose anyone else I love like I lost Igneel. That almost destroyed me, and losing you now would shatter me utterly. I would destroy the world that didn't have you in it just to find the one that did."

He used the final vestiges of his energy to say those words, finally releasing the emotions that had been building in him since he first saw her, and drifted off into a blissful unconsciousness.


	12. Chapter 12

Natsu regained consciousness surrounded by soft, warm sheets. He still felt too weak to crack his eyelids so he scented the air, catching the lingering scents of all of his comrades, but realizing that no one was in the room. He waited, letting strength seep back into his limbs before he decided to open his eyes and view his surroundings. He found himself back in his hotel room at the Akane Resort, the orange tinged sunlight of sunset streaming through the curtains.

Natsu smiled thinking, 'Good, they found us. If they hadn't I'm not sure I would have woken up.'

He waited another few minutes before he felt strong enough to try moving. When he did, he carefully slipped his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He was pleased to find that he could move around as long as he was careful. He searched the room until he found his clothes and sword, and put them on. He felt his stomach growling at him and grumbled, "They could have at least left some food for me."

He walked out of the room and down to the restaurant, letting his nose guide him. The waiter had barely asked him what he wanted when he said, "Two of the biggest steaks you have, and some ale."

The sputtering waiter walked away but Natsu didn't pay attention to him. He instead watched the commotion that was going on outside the restaurant. He saw Mirajane run past with Lucy right behind her, apparently in search of something. He grinned, 'They must have found that I'm not in the room. Well, I'm going to have my food and then I'll go back.'

His food was brought out and he calmly tucked in, eating just fast enough to satisfy his need for food, but not so fast that his body would reject it. Natsu had nursed himself back from plenty of injuries and knew exactly how to do it.

He had stopped to take a sip of the ale when the chair across from him was filled by a beautiful blonde woman, whom he happened to know as Lucy. She glared at him, "What are you doing? You shouldn't be leaving your room without someone!"

Natsu snorted, "I'm perfectly fine, if I waited around for you guys I'd starve to death."

Lucy looked down at his food and said weakly, "Are you sure you should be eating that? It seems a bit heavy."

Natsu laughed, "Well I don't have to watch my figure so I think I'll be fine."

Lucy groaned, "And here I was worried about you."

Natsu smiled, pushing his plate away as he was done with his meal. He asked, "So, how long was I out?"

The blonde woman scowled at him, "You were unconscious for a week. Apparently eating the Etherion was bad for you."

He just grinned, "Yeah yeah, it all turned out okay, so don't look so angry. How's Erza?"

His question drew a surprised look from the blonde girl. She answered him after a moment's pause, "She's fine, her injuries weren't as bad as yours."

Natsu frowned, "What's that look for?"

Lucy smiled softly at him, "I think that's the first time you've actually said her name."

Natsu snorted and downed the last of his ale, "I must be going soft then."

He stood up to go and reached into his pockets for some jewels, but found them sadly empty. He looked sheepishly at Lucy, "So I may not have any money on me, you mind paying?"

She glared at him and he said, "Hey I just defeated one of the most powerful dark mages in the world, don't I deserve a break?"

She sighed and pulled out the jewels and left them on the table. They made their way back to Natsus room. The Salamander was feeling much better after his large meal and so the weakness he'd felt on the way down was gone on the way back. He was in the process of trying to cheer Lucy up after she'd just spent the last of her money on him when they entered his room. As they entered, his face was met with a gauntleted fist and he promptly exited again.

Natsu groaned as he sat against the wall, recognizing the fist that had punched him in the face without seeing its owner. He stood up rubbing his face and calmly walked into the room to face a fuming Erza. He walked in and noticed the rest of the group in there as well, all looking at Erza with expressions of shock. The scarlet haired knight had her arms crossed and an infuriated expression on her face and when he re-entered she launched into her tirade, "Where the hell did you go! You can't just get up and leave with how severe your injuries are! You could have hurt yourself!"

Natsu interrupted her and said, "I'm going to stop saving your life if this is how you say thank you."

His statement made her jaw clack shut and a slight blush come to her face. He ignored her and turned to Gray, "So what happened while I was out?"

He had a nonchalant look on his face as he summarized, "Well we found you and Erza on the beach passed out, that was a week ago. We brought you guys back here and fixed you up as best we could. Erza woke up about two days after that. Then we just kind of waited around for you to wake up, took you long enough. We were out on the beach saying goodbye to Sho, Milliana, and Wally when you woke up so that's why none of us were here."

Natsu listened calmly to Gray's explanation, ignoring Erza who looked like she was about to beat him to within an inch of his life. When he was finished Natsu said, "Alright, now if everyone wouldn't mind, I think I'm going to go back to sleep, I should be fine tomorrow and then we can leave."

Everyone except Erza nodded and left. The scarlet haired woman ignored him and stood still as the others filed past her. Gray was the last out and he closed the door, knowing that Erza wouldn't be following him. Natsu went about his business, taking off his sword and placing it next to the bed for easy access, waiting for Erza to speak first. She did and said angrily, "Why would you leave without telling any of us?"

Natsu gave her a condescending look, "There was no one here to tell, and seeing as how I haven't eaten for a week, I felt the need for some food."

She snarled at him, "Don't be such an ass, we were worried!"

He sighed and flopped down on the bed, "I can take care of myself you know, I've been doing it for most of my life, and it's not like I'm going to ditch you guys."

She gave him a sharp look, "You needed some help taking care of yourself this time didn't you."

He laughed bitterly, "You're right, because I spent more time taking care of you than myself and I suffered for it."

He could feel the anger go out of her as she sat down heavily on the bed and bent over, putting her head in her hands. He sighed, wishing that Igneel hadn't passed down some things to him, and sat up, moving over until he was sitting next to her. He placed a hand on her back and even through her armor he could feel her body sobbing, even if he couldn't hear it. He said quietly, "I don't regret anything I did. My only regret is that you had to face Jellal alone."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "I thought you were leaving after seeing how weak I was. I thought you would be exactly like Jellal."

Natsu sighed again, "Erza, I hate to say this because I really hate Jellal, but I think he was being manipulated. If what you said about your childhood with him is true, there's no way that he would have gone crazy from what happened to him. This whole thing smells like Ultear to me. Seeing her with Siegrain on the council, well, if you put it all together then I think he was a puppet with Ultear pulling the strings."

She looked at him in astonishment, forgetting about the tears spilling out of her eyes, "Ho… How do you know?"

He shrugged, "I don't. It's a pretty good guess though. It's her style. Remember how she was manipulating Lyon on Galuna Island? It looks a lot like that, just more destructive of the people around the guy being manipulated."

Her tears were drying fast, "So, Jellal wasn't really evil?"

He scowled, "Probably not, but it doesn't make me like him anymore."

She looked puzzled, "Why? If he wasn't really evil, then how can you blame everything on him?"

Natsu stood up suddenly, and walked around the bed to look out the window, "For a variety of reasons, most of which are personal."

He could hear her stand up as well and her rather heated reply came, "How can your reasons be personal? You don't even know the real Jellal!"

Natsu turned and directed a searing gaze at her, "You're a much more important person in this world than you give yourself Erza. Don't you remember what I said to you on the beach? There are many things that you aren't aware of, and those are the reasons I dislike Jellal." He could see her nod when he mentioned his words on the beach, but he could also see the confusion in her eyes. He snorted and turned back to looking out the window.

He asked her, "Do you know why I helped you that day in the train station?"

She answered quietly, "I figured you didn't want to fight Lucy and I at the same time and were biding your time to betray us."

Natsu snorted, "No, it's because I saw you, and my dragon instincts told me that I should. I just didn't understand why and deceived myself with the other reasons I gave you."

He could almost see the confusion on her face as she asked, "Dragon instincts?"

"As you know I was raised by the fire dragon, Igneel. As a Dragon Slayer, I take on certain characteristics of dragons. You saw that when I ate Etherion during my fight with Jellal, and my body took on the characteristics of a dragon. I also take on some non-physical characteristics of dragons. I don't fall in love like a normal human. When I find the one I just know, my dragon instincts tell me that she's the one that I will spend my life with. The only problem ironically is that we dragon slayers don't know if we'll be loved back."

He turned and gazed at her, a dawning look of understanding coming over her face. His voice began rising with all of the passion he had suppressed, "We don't know if the one our instincts tell us to love will love us. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that my mate hated me from the moment she met me, although I guess with my past I wasn't doing myself any favors. I decided I was going to do everything in my power to have you fall in love with me. You Erza, my mate. That's why I hate Jellal. Because you love him and can look past his past, but I love you and you can't look past mine, as mild as it is compared to his. I wanted to let you believe that he was evil, that he truly was going to sacrifice you, but I couldn't, because I love you, and I never want to see your tears again."

His voice dropped to a barely perceptible whisper, "That's why I hate him. He stands between me and everything that will complete my life."

He stared into her brown eyes waiting for an answer. Seconds ticked by, and then minutes as he impatiently waited for her to say something. She finally said quietly, "How can you love me. You hardly even know me."

Natsu replied just as quietly, "It's instinctual, you're the perfect mate for a dragon: strong, independent, beautiful. I love you because I can't not love you. And you're right; I don't know you very well, because you don't take your armor off, ever. But I've seen your passion, your drive, and your love of Fairy Tail. I know the important things. I know what makes you who you are."

Tears began to form in her eyes again, "Why now?"

He shrugged, "Now wasn't exactly the best time, but I'm exhausted, and I'm tired of holding it in."

He stepped forward and raised his hand to cup her cheek, wiping away the tears that only came out of one of her eyes. He smiled at her, "I know this is a lot, and I know that you might not like it, but just think about it. Unlike Jellal, I'm not going anywhere."

He lowered his hand and moved passed her, grabbing his sword from its place next to the bed. He walked to the door and opened it, turning back to see her staring at him wordlessly. He smiled, "I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back in a while."

He quietly closed the door and padded through the silent hallways, down through the entry foyer, and out the door. It only took him five minutes to walk down to the beach and the moonlight that beamed around him calmed him. He made his way down to the edge of the water and crouched down, staring at the waves that washed in inches from his feet. He sighed, speaking aloud, "Igneel, I've really got myself into it this time. I don't think I can fight my way out of this one either."

He let himself lean back and fell to a sitting position in the soft sand with a chuckle, "If you could see me you'd kick my ass. I've done a lot of things you probably wouldn't be very proud of, and now it's all coming back to bite me."

He shook his head and jerked upright, "Bah. That's enough feeling sorry for myself. If I find Igneel with this sad story he'll just tell me to shut up and then throw me all the way back to Magnolia."

Natsu set off down the beach, humming a jaunty tune as he strolled along. He walked along, just enjoying the salty air and the sound of the waves gently washing up on shore. After an hour of strolling the beach he decided that he should get some sleep before tomorrow, because he was going to have to ride the train. He felt mildly queasy at the thought. Natsu made his way back to the room, determining that it was sometime near midnight.

He opened the door to a surprisingly dark room, and the strong scent of a certain scarlet haired knight still pervaded the room. He stepped in and shut the door, glancing at the bed. He could just make out a shape under the blankets on his bed. He unbuckled his sword and carefully laid it next to the bed and leaned over to see who it was. There was Erza, lying on her back with a peaceful expression on her face, her hair lying wild across the pillow.

Natsu cursed internally, 'Insufferable woman. I bet if I decide to sleep in my own bed she'll get angry that I was so forward. Well, it's my bed, and I need some sleep, she'll get over it.'

He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it onto the couch, the place he probably should have slept. He carefully climbed into the bed and found a comfortable spot on his side of the bed. He lay with his back facing Erza, one arm up beneath his pillow and the other down at his side, being careful not to disturb the woman sleeping next to him. His efforts were in vain though, as he heard her make a soft noise and felt the bed shift. Suddenly an arm was draped around his waist and he could feel Erza's breath against his bare shoulder.

He stiffened as she snuggled closer to him. Natsu thought to himself as he began to nod off, 'Screw it, this is nice. I'll deal with it in the morning.'

* * *

><p>Natsu woke up with sunlight streaming through the window and hitting his eyes. He cracked those eyes open and all he saw was scarlet hair in front of his eyes. He then noticed that he had one arm around somebody's waist, and the other was being used as a pillow by the scarlet haired person. It took him a moment to process the fact that he had pulled himself snug against Erza sometime during the night. Natsu could feel the strong muscles of her back through her pajamas, and his lower body was snug against hers, only the thin material of his pants and her pajamas separating them. He had only a few moments to think, 'She is about to be so pissed.'<p>

He felt her shift and she gave a small groan. He quickly removed his arm around her waist but his other arm was trapped under her head and all he could do was wait. She slowly rolled over with a soft smile on her face until she was inches away from his face. He watched her open her eyes and they went from contentment to utter shock before he could do anything. She gave a loud, "KYAAH!" and a ringing slap was delivered to his face that sent him flying off the bed and crashing unceremoniously to the ground. He rubbed his face and muttered from where he lay, "Damn woman has the nerve to kick me out of my own bed."

He stood up still rubbing his smarting face and looked to where Erza was standing; her fists clenched in rage but her face a deep red. She yelled at him, "What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

He grimaced and said, "It's my damn bed. You never left my room last night and apparently decided that you were going to sleep in my bed. I came back from my walk and you were already asleep. I didn't want to wake you so I just went to sleep too."

He could see her fists loosen but her blush remained as she said, "Well you should have taken the couch, like a gentleman."

He grinned at that, "Now when have I ever pretended to be a gentleman? Besides, my bed, my rules."

He was confused when her blush deepened and she refused to meet his eyes. It took him a moment but his grin got broader as he said, "Now that you know it's my bed we could always go back to it." He winked at her for added effect.

In a moment she had requiped out of her pajamas and into her standard breastplate and blue skirt and had a sword held to his throat, "I cannot allow you to suggest such indecent things!"

His grin never wavered as he casually knocked the sword away, stepping closer to wrap an arm around her waist to pull her against him and feeling the cold metal of her breastplate against his bare chest, "I was only suggesting what was on your mind Scarlet."

He placed his other arm on the side of her neck and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. She stiffened when their lips connected but after a moment relaxed into him. Closing his eyes, Natsu continued to kiss her, feeling her arms drop the sword and come up to wrap around his neck. He desperately wanted to deepen the kiss and let her feel his passion, but knew that it wasn't the time. So, he gently pulled his lips away from hers and opened his eyes, finding that hers were open, staring into his.

He smiled and said softly, "See, I'm not so bad am I?"

He could see her attempting to glower at him as she unwrapped her arms from around his neck and stepped back, "I'll admit you're attractive in a physical sense," He could see her checking out his bare chest, "But only a rogue sneaks into bed with a woman at night."

He grinned and stretched his arms upwards, giving her an eyeful, "There's nothing wrong with being a rogue. Now, I feel the need for a shower, and unless you'd like to join me," He winked at her again, "Then you probably want to go back to your own room to get ready."

She blushed at his outrageous suggestions but held her head high as she strode out of the room. Natsu shook his head at his ridiculous luck and went to the bathroom to take a shower. He turned on the water to the hottest setting and stripped out of the rest of his clothes. He stepped under the near boiling water and felt it relax his body. The hot water hit his shoulders as he relived the short morning in his head.

Natsu grinned, hardly believing that Erza had softened to him so much. He laughed out loud, "I guess getting all messed up fighting Jellal was worth it. She finally saw me for who I can actually be."

He cleaned his body and go out of the shower, instantly drying himself in a small burst of flame. He went out to get clean clothes out of his bag and found Gray lounging around on his bed in his usual boxers. Gray looked at him as he came out of the bathroom, and averted his eyes away from Natsu wasn't wearing anything. Natsu ignored him and began dressing, waiting for him to talk.

Gray started with, "So what did you and Erza talk about last night?"

Natsu shrugged, "She yelled, I yelled, I left, she left."

Gray grinned, "You sure about that? I saw her in the hallway, she looked pretty happy coming from the direction of your room."

Natsu whirled around while trying to put on his pants and fell to the ground. This didn't deter him from spouting out, "What do you mean she looked happy!"

Gray began laughing so hard that he fell off the bed. Natsu glowered at him and finished dressing. Gray finally calmed down and said, "Man, I didn't see her at all this morning, but you sure gave the game away."

Natsu could only gape at him as he continued laughing, "So how did last night really go flame brain?"

Natsu rushed at Gray, drawing his sword that sat near the bed in a flash and putting it to the ice mage's throat. He growled, "If you think you can blackmail me with this, well, I still know plenty of people in the dark guilds and it would be a shame if I had to deprive the new girl of your company."

Gray looked shocked and said, "Wait? How do you know about me and Juvia?"

Natsu grinned, "Hah! Now who's given the game away?"

Gray growled, "Fine, damn sneaky bastard. You keep quiet and I'll keep quiet, okay?"

Natsu lowered his sword and said, "Okay. Now let's go, don't want to miss the train."

Gray left to grab his stuff as Natsu buckled his sword onto his back and grabbed his bag. He slung it over the opposite shoulder of his sword and left the room. He met Mirajane and Lucy coming down the hall and said, "Good morning ladies, how was your night?"

They both smiled and said that they had had fine nights after they had left. Lucy got a worried look on her face, "Are you okay? Did Erza hurt you any more?"

Natsu laughed, "No, we had a pretty heated argument but she didn't resort to physical violence this time."

Lucy nodded and said, "Good, we don't want to have to bandage you up again."

He scowled at her as they walked, "How do you know you wouldn't be bandaging her eh?"

Mirajane laughed at that, "Tin head would probably kick your ass from here to Magnolia if you guys fought."

Natsu growled at her, "Hey, we're one and one in serious fights, and I only lost because I got cocky!"

They reached the foyer as Mirajane looked at him curiously, "When did you beat her? You guys haven't seriously fought since the fight for you to join the guild."

Natsu cursed inwardly, not meaning to reveal the other time they'd fought and said evasively, "Well, she got mad, I got mad, we fought, and I won. It was after we finished the mission on Galuna Island."

Mirajane nodded as if this was something normal, "Well, I'm glad you put a beating on that moron. If she wasn't so mean and temperamental she'd have a boyfriend by now."

Natsu was saved from having to explain the guilty look that flashed across is face by the arrival of Erza and Gray. The girls began talking but Gray noticed the look on Natsu's face and deduced where it came from. He grinned widely, but it was quickly wiped from his face when Natsu gave him meaningful look. They both stared at each other and then nodded, coming to a silent agreement to both shut up.

They all made their way to the train station, the girls chatting and laughing, and occasionally Mirajane and Erza having to be separated. Natsu and Gray followed them stoically, carrying all of the shopping that Mirajane had done in the week Natsu was out. Gray grunted, "You sure you couldn't have woken up earlier? This is way too much."

Natsu only growled back, "Why don't you eat Etherion, beat up a wizard saint, and then teleport two people a hundred miles away. Do that and then talk to me about sleeping for a week."

Gray scoffed, "It was more like 95 miles."

They both heard Mirajane yelling at them from ahead, "Just shut up and don't drop anything!"

They both grumbled and but kept going until they were able to dump everything off in the extra seat in the train compartment. Carrying everything had kept Natsu from feeling motion sickness, but he was still standing up when the train began moving and he sat down heavily next to Erza. His face turned green and he could see three sympathetic faces across from him. He turned to lie down away from Erza, but realized that Mirajane's packages were in the way.

He sat up straight knowing that he was going to have a miserable ride back to Magnolia. He was surprised when he felt a gauntleted fist in his stomach and he was bent over and found his head resting on Erza's lap. Her hand was tangled in his hair, stroking his head as she said, "Don't get used to it. This is a one-time only thing because you saved my life." Natsu could see the shocked faces of Lucy and Mirajane, but the knowing face of Gray as he drifted off to part unconsciousness, part sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Secretly Natsu relished such mundane tasks as grocery shopping. After years living on the crappy food of dark guilds, he had taught himself to cook, and it made life much more tolerable. He remembered times when he'd had to break into restaurants at night to practice, but after a while he got good enough to feed himself with whatever happened to be in whichever dark guild he was with. Food was a basic necessity, and now that he was a free man in a legal guild, he could cook his own food as he pleased, and not be subject to anybody else's horrible food.

He was thinking about all this as he walked through town with a few large bags on his arms, filled to the brim with food, or as he liked to call it, the last of his hard earned money. His house was pretty far out on the outskirts of Magnolia, but he didn't mind the walk due to the large amount of privacy he had. It only took him 20 minutes to walk into town, and only a few minutes longer to get back with his burdens. He smiled as he came into view of his new house, feeling a flash of possessiveness as he looked at it. It was only one story, painted a dark green, with the chimney being the tallest part, but it was extremely expansive.

He opened the front door and walked into a large living room. The walls were painted a soft white color. There was a couch against a wall to his right with a coffee table in front of it, and across the room a large fireplace was set in the wall. Scattered around the room were some large comfy armchairs. He walked through the room to the opening across from him and passed through it, coming into a hallway. He went to the first opening on the left and went through it, coming into a brightly lit kitchen with a table set in the middle. He set down his groceries and put everything in its rightful spot.

He was thinking about making himself a snack when he heard a loud noise coming from his living room and several familiar scents wafted through the room. He sighed and went out to see what his friends were doing. He walked down the short hallway to the living room and found a sight that mildly annoyed him to say the least. Erza was sitting on the couch eating a large piece of strawberry cake while arguing with Mirajane. Gray was in his underwear lounging around in one of his armchairs. Only Lucy looked like she had a shred of remorse for breaking into his house. She was standing with her back to the front door with a look of chagrin on her face.

Natsu took a deep breath and bellowed, "What the hell are you doing in my house?"

Everyone stopped and looked at him, Mirajane saying nonchalantly, "Well, we followed you here from the market because we wanted to see your new house."

Natsu gave her a withering look, "You could have asked, instead of breaking in."

Erza piped in, "Nonsense, you are a comrade, and comrades have a standing invitation."

Natsu growled at her, "If you think that's the case, I'm going to ban strawberry cake from my house!"

He saw the stricken look on her face and knew that he had struck the right spot. He looked over at Gray, "And if I catch anyone stripping in my house I will personally kick your ass and then tie you up naked to the top of the cathedral!"

He saw Gray look down at himself and suddenly shout, "My clothes!" as he rushed past Lucy out the door to find his clothes. He looked to Mirajane and said, "I will sell topless photos of you to Sorcerer's Weekly if you break into my house again." He could see the blush spread up her face and across her body through her revealing clothes. She stuttered, "Ho… How do you have photos of me like that?"

Natsu laughed, "Do you know how many perverts there are in Fairy Tail?"

He left it at that and addressed all of them, "Only Lucy has a standing invitation, because I'm sure that you guys dragged her here."

Lucy smiled at him and nodded, while the other two girls looked crestfallen. Natsu sighed, "If you had just asked, then maybe I might have given you an invitation."

He waited with arms crossed as the two S-class mages tried to swallow their pride. Erza was the first. She stood up and came over to him bowing her head slightly, "I have wronged you by invading your personal space, please hit me."

He grinned and threw Lucy a wink, "Very well, but instead of hitting you I will name the price of my forgiveness as that piece of strawberry cake."

Erza stood straight up with a gasp saying, "That is much too steep a price!"

Natsu kept a completely straight face, "Erza, you have wronged me deeply by invading my personal space. Throughout my life as a criminal I never had personal space, being made to live among the dirty dark mages. Now that I am free of that life I thought that I would finally have my own space." He could see Erza's face twitching as she tried desperately to find a way to save her precious cake but apologize as well. Mirajane and Lucy were behind her, trying extremely hard not to burst out laughing.

Erza finally let out a strangled, "Very well." She went over and got her plate of cake and brought it over to him, handing it to him very reluctantly. He smiled at her and said, "Thank you, all is forgiven."

He could see her forcing a smile on her face as she stepped back, her eyes never leaving her precious cake that was now in his hands. He gave her a bright smile and then picked up the fork on the plate. He slowly cut himself a large bite, his eyes never leaving her, and her eyes never leaving the cake. Natsu slowly brought the forkful of cake up to his mouth, mercilessly teasing her without uttering a word. Right as he was about to put it in his mouth, she broke. She yelled, "I'm sorry, I cannot allow you to defile my beloved cake!" and dove at him knocking the plate and the fork out of his hands.

Natsu fell over backwards with her on top of him, but the cake flew through the air and splattered against the walls of his new house. Natsu found himself flat on his back with Erza splayed out on top of him, staring in horror at her cake splattered on his wall. He couldn't help himself; he began laughing harder than he'd ever laughed before. The situation was just too ridiculous. When he started laughing it was like a floodgate broke; the other two girls began laughing as well, falling over each other as they laughed at the expression on Erza's face.

That was the moment Gray decided to reappear and Natsu could see him standing in the doorway with an incredibly confused look on his face. He yelled, "What the hell is going on here?"

Natsu took a moment to stop laughing and said from his position underneath Erza, "Well, Erza gave me her cake as an apology but apparently just couldn't let me eat it. She tackled me and the cake went all over my brand new walls." He gave her a mock glare, "Now look what you've done. You've invaded my personal space and knocked cake onto my walls." His face turned mournful, "The first time I've had a place just for myself, on the first day the walls are splattered with cake."

She hastily scrambled off of him and stood up, bowing again and saying, "Please hit me; I have committed an unforgiveable sin against a friend."

He stood up and looked thoughtful, tapping his feet, "I don't know. You weren't apologizing in good faith last time, you tried to take the cake back."

She looked stricken as she realized what she'd done, "Name your request then, nothing is too steep for the forgiveness of my friends."

He grinned at that, "Fine, go on a date with me."

His house grew silent as a grave. Mirajane, Lucy, and Erza all stood staring at him with their mouths hanging open. Gray just had an extremely impressed look on his face. Erza finally managed to stutter, "What do you mean… a date."

He smiled, "Well, you know, dinner, walk in the park in the moonlight, that sort of things."

She looked at him and her mouth moved but words weren't coming out. He grinned, "I'll take that as a yes. How about tomorrow?"

Lucy piped up at that point, "As much as I love what's happening here, the Miss Fairy Tail contest is tomorrow, so it's probably a no go."

Natsu looked at her and asked, "What's the Miss Fairy Tail contest?"

Lucy got excited as she told him, "It's a beauty contest to crown the most beautiful woman in Fairy Tail. Mira, Erza, and I are all entered in it for tomorrow."

Natsu laughed, "Well then. Tomorrow night after the contest we'll go have dinner."

He looked around at all the stunned faces looking at him, "What? Am I not allowed to ask someone out on a date?"

Gray spoke up, "You are, but nobody has ever had the balls to ask out Erza. Loke flirted with her one time and she beat him to within an inch of his life."

Mirajane said quietly to herself, "Oh no, the tin head is going to get a boyfriend before me! This isn't fair!" She turned to Natsu, "Natsu, go out with me. Not that walking armor stand."

Erza whirled on her, "You're just jealous he asked me, and not you!"

Natsu looked on as they argued with a bemused expression on his face. Apparently the only thing that could make Erza actually acknowledge they were going on a date was the thought of her rival taking her date away. He sighed and said to the group, "Come on, let me clean this up and then lets go to the guild, I think I'm going to need a drink."

They walked down to the guild, Erza and Mira still arguing, and Natsu, Gray, and Lucy having a pleasant conversation. As they walked in the doors Natsu remembered something, "So Gray, where did that new girl get off to?"

Before Gray could answer, Makarov had walked up to the group with said new girl, "Hello everyone! I'd like you to meet the newest member of Fairy Tail. Juvia Lockser!"

Juvia stood next to Makarov with a beaming smile on her face, "Hello new guildmates!"

Everyone greeted her and they began happily chatting when Makarov piped up again, "We also have another new member." He pointed over to a table in the corner and they all turned to see Gajeel sitting there, with his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. Natsu's four companions immediately began protesting, but Natsu ignored them and walked over to Gajeels table and plopped down across from him.

"How'd the old man convince you to join?"

Gajeel growled at him, "I just needed a place to do jobs. Don't worry; you won't be seeing much of me."

Natsu shrugged, "Hey, I can't say anything, I'm fairly sure my background is worse than yours and they still let me in."

The iron dragon slayer laughed at that, "Gihihi, you're right Salamander. I want a rematch though, I still think you got lucky last time."

Natsu nodded, "Anytime."

Gajeel nodded back silently as Natsu stood up to head back over to his group. He was waylaid by Makarov who whispered to him, "Come to my office, I need to talk with you and Gajeel about something."

Natsu looked at him curiously, but nodded his assent and watched as the small guild master went and said the same thing to Gajeel. He noticed Erza walking over to him with a questioning look but he waved her off, making his way upstairs and into the masters' office. He only had to wait a few moments before Makarov and Gajeel joined him. The master motioned for Gajeel and Natsu to sit down across from him as he made his way around the desk.

He said, "I have a very serious matter to discuss with you, and none of it leaves this room."

Gajeel and Natsu looked at each other, and then looked back at the master and nodded.

The small man continued, "About 10 years ago, I had to kick my own son, Ivan, out of the guild. He left with some very sensitive information that could hurt or destroy Fairy Tail. Now, knowing Natsu's criminal background and Gajeel's very public dislike of Fairy Tail, there is a very good chance that he will contact you and try and enlist you in trying to hurt Fairy Tail. If he does, I'd like you to do so. Do what he asks, within reason, check with me if you're not sure. I want you to worm your way into his inner circle, find out what he knows, what his plans are, and tell me."

Natsu looked troubled by this, but Gajeel seemed fairly nonchalant. Natsu frowned, "This doesn't seem to be in keeping with my probation."

Makarov chuckled, "What the council doesn't know won't hurt them."

Natsu shrugged, not finding a flaw in the logic. Gajeel leaned forward, "Do I get paid?"

Makarov nodded, "I'll pay you both three million jewels if he contacts you and if you can find out his plans."

Gajeel shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

He got up and left, heading back downstairs. Natsu stayed and the Master gave him a questioning look. Natsu said, "You don't think I'm going to betray you the first chance I get and go back to the dark guilds?"

Makarov laughed, "Of course not boy. You have a code of honor; you won't break your word."

Natsu smiled, "Well at least someone believes. Now the real question, how do I keep Erza from finding out and killing me?"

Makarov frowned and looked thoughtful, "Well. That one is on you my boy! Just make sure not to tell her, this is a secret mission."

Natsu said angrily, "What the hell gramps. You put her on a team with me so I kind of have to be with her whenever I'm on a job. If she finds out I'm talking with dark wizards she's going to try and put a sword through my neck."

The old man just laughed, "Well don't let her find out. Besides, she trusts you now right?"

Natsu nodded a mite unwillingly. He continued, "Well there you have it, she trusts you so she'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

The skeptical dragon slayer snorted, "Well whatever, it's on your head if she decides to take mine."

Makarov only smiled and bobbed his head, shooing Natsu out of the room. He grumbled and left thinking, 'Damn old men. Damn secret missions. Erza is gonna kill me, and after all this progress.'

He walked down the stairs and was promptly hit in the face with a full mug of beer. The sound he'd been hearing all stopped at once. The entire guild was in the process of having a massive brawl. Except for Gajeel, who was on stage in a ridiculous white suit and playing a guitar singing something about best friends. He stared at the hall with beer dripping down his face and the entire guild hall stared back at him. His anger slowly built up, and he let it show with bursts of flames that dried the beer from his face.

He said very calmly, "Who threw the beer?"

A scared looking Gray raised his hand from where he was in a headlock by Mirajane. Natsu let the flames encircle him as he yelled, "Prepare for a slow death Gray!" as he rushed into the fray, and restarted the guild wide brawl.

* * *

><p>The next day as Natsu walked to the guild to watch the Miss Fairy Tail contest, he ran into Mirajane. She smiled when she saw him coming and waved, and he waved back. They met and then turned towards the guild which was only a short distance away. He said, "Good morning Mirajane, how are you?"<p>

She replied with a mildly evil smile, "Oh, I'm in a great mood. Erza and I made a bet."

Natsu was beginning to get a bad feeling but he said, "What about?"

She smiled brightly at him, "Well, whoever wins the Miss Fairy Tail contest is the one that gets to date you."

He looked at her and said indignantly, "What the hell? I distinctly remember asking Erza on a date, not you."

Mira laughed at him, "It's so silly that you think you have a choice. You're going to be taking me out to dinner tonight, not that skank."

Natsu could only shake his head, "It doesn't work like that Mira. It's Erza or nothing."

Mirajane looked at him angrily, "Well fine. I'll win and then she can't go on a date with you anyways." She said this and stomped away into the guild with her head held high.

Natsu could only stare after her as he felt someone come up behind him and sling their arm around his shoulders. He turned his head to see Gray with a shit eating grin on his face, "Women, what can you do with them."

Natsu grumbled as he shrugged off Gray and went into the guild, "Apparently the wrong thing."

He heard Gray laugh behind him as they both walked in the guild. It was incredibly crowded. Apparently this was one of the most popular events during the festival, just behind the Fantasia parade. Natsu understood the appeal, but it was quite bothersome when he had to push through a huge crowd to get to the table where Elfman was waving his arms. When Gray and him arrived Elfman roared, "Come! It is time to watch the manliest of contests!"

Natsu and Gray looked at each other, and decided that neither one of them was going to take that one. They both looked on stage as Max stepped out, holding a microphone and dressed in a spiffy bowtie. He shouted out, "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen! Our fairy beauty pageant is about to begin! I, the sand wizard Max, will be your host today!"

Natsu tuned the man out when he started calling out names. He only had eyes for one woman and she wasn't on stage yet. He instead let his eyes wander the room, taking in the sights and sounds of t crazy festival. There was a huge crowd of people, but there were two that caught his eye. Both of them were men, and both dressed rather exotically. One had long green hair, styled into lightning bolts that came up from above his ears. He wore a long scarlet coat and had a rapier at his side. The other had a black and white striped jerkin with large shoulder pads sporting skulls on them, and wore what looked like a knight's helmet.

Natsu could feel a large magical presence from both of them but he didn't recognize them. He shrugged and turned back to surveying the room, thinking neither of them was worth his time. In only a minute he heard what he wanted to hear when Max shouted, "Erza Scarlet!"

He jerked his attention back on stage to see Erza run out and strike a stance. She shouted, "Allow me to demonstrate a very special requip." Light shone around her and when it disappeared Natsu thought his eyes would drop out of his head. She stood there with a smirk on her face, wearing black boots, thigh high black socks, a short black skirt, a tight black and white shirt, and the entire look was capped off by a large black bow holding her hair back in a ponytail.

He felt a sharp slap to the back of his head and he heard Gray say, "Put your tongue back in your mouth Natsu."

He hadn't even noticed that his mouth was wide open in open astonishment. He clacked it shut but not before Erza had seen him, and winked at him. The wink drove the crowd wild, all of them thinking that it was for them. Natsu knew that it was his though and he could only grin as she walked off stage.

Lucy was the next one on and Natsu felt that he should cheer for her, even if there was no way she was winning after what Erza had done. She came out and started doing a cheer, but was interrupted by a sultry female voice from what he assumed was backstage. The unknown woman was saying, "I am the definition of Fairy. I am the definition of beauty. I am the definition of well… everything."

As he watched a curvy woman sauntered out from backstage, wearing a bright green dress strapless dress and hiding the bottom half of her face with a fan. She continued, "This victory goes to me… Evergreen! This ridiculous contest is over now."

Mutterings began to break out around the guild as Gray said, "Evergreen…?"

Elfman muttered, "If she's back…"

Lucy was on stage shouting at Evergreen, trying to get her off when Gray suddenly shouted, "Lucy, don't look her in the eyes!"

Apparently Lucy did just that because Evergreen moved her glasses down her face very slightly and there was a flash of magic. Lucy was suddenly turned into a stone statue. Natsu stood up very suddenly, and his hand was gripping his sword, ready to draw it. The crowd had different ideas, stampeding like mad to get out of the building. The master ran up to the stage and shouted, "What are you doing Evergreen? Are you trying to spoil the festival?"

The woman laughed ominously and said, "All festivals need some entertainment." The curtains behind her lifted and behind that stood six stone statues, the other six participants in the contest. Natsu saw Erza as a stone statue and felt a cold pit form in his stomach, as well as the hot fires of blind rage building in his heart.

The master was shouting, "You fool, turn them back this instant!" when a bolt of lightning came out of the ceiling and struck near Lucy. It turned out not to be a bolt of lightning, but rather a large man making a dramatic appearance. He wore a purple button up shirt and a large black coat. His hair was blonde but some of it was covered up by the large sound pods he wore over his ears. Most ominous was the large lightning bolt scar across his right eye, and the huge grin on his face.

He shouted, "Hey Fairy Tail losers, this festival is just getting started."

He heard mutterings of "Laxus, and Bixlow, and Fried too!" going around the guild.

The blonde man said to Makarov, "Let's play, old man."

The master only said, "Cease this nonsense. Turn them back at once."

The man ignored him saying, "I wonder how many of them will survive until the Fantasia parade." A bolt of lightning crashed down from the ceiling right next to Lucy. The man grinned and put his arm around the stone girls' shoulders saying, "I'm taking these girls hostage. Break the rules and they'll shatter one by one. Like she said... this is entertainment."

The other three mages were suddenly by his side. The green haired one that Natsu had noticed before said, "Let us truly find out who is the strongest in Fairy Tail."

The blonde said, "The rules are simple, whoever is still standing at the end wins. A battle of Fairy Tail."

As all this was going on Natsu had been sneaking around off to the side, sidling nonchalantly closer to the stage. He just so happened to be on the side that Evergreen was on and so he took a chance. He drew his sword and leapt forward onto the stage, surprising everyone for a moment. He used the surprised to grab Evergreens wrist and twist it around behind her back. He was behind her and she tried to move away but he stopped this by putting his sword across her throat. He smiled dangerously at the surprised blonde man, "Now, what is this you're saying about a battle of Fairy Tail."

The blonde man looked at him, "Who the hell are you, trash."

Natsu grinned a bit insanely, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, I just joined Fairy Tail."

Laxus threw back his head and laughed before addressing Makarov, "You're letting scum like the Salamander into the guild? You're more pathetic than I thought."

Natsu frowned, "I'm not sure I like being called scum. How about I cut your little friend's throat here to get all my friend's back to normal, and then we fight like normal people, without hostages." He could feel the crowd still and he could feel Evergreen shiver.

Laxus's face hardened, "If you're in Fairy Tail you won't kill anybody."

Natsu laughed, "Well it seems like you've thrown out all the rules by taking the girls hostage and threatening them. Besides, I am a former criminal remember, you don't quite know when we might… snap."

Laxus frowned and didn't move a muscle, but Natsu could tell that a bolt of lightning was about to hit him in the back, so he was forced to move his sword away from Evergreen's throat to absorb it, and in that moment she was able to wrench away from him.

Natsu let her go, knowing that he'd have to try something else next time. Laxus grinned, "I like your spunk kid. Hell, I might even keep you around when I'm Master if you're powerful enough. Now, you have three hours to find us before all of these statues turn to dust. All of Magnolia will be the battleground. It doesn't end until there is only one person left standing." In a flash of blinding lightning, all three of the mages were gone, leaving only Natsu and 7 stone statues on the stage.

The entire guild was silent for a moment, but then chaos abounded as they all rushed out to go look for Laxus and the troublemakers. Natsu shook with a silent fury as he looked at the stone Erza. He began stalking out of the guild when Gray put a hand on his shoulder, "Do you know who they are? That's Laxus and the Raijinshuu. Laxus probably second most powerful in the guild after Gildarts!"

Natsu shrugged him off and growled, "I don't care, threaten my mate will he? I will burn him to the ground and leave nothing but bones behind as a warning."

Gray gave him an odd look, "Your mate?"

Natsu only shook his head, "Not now. I'll tell you later. Right now, we have to go kick someone's ass."


	14. Chapter 14

Natsu and Gray were two of the only people left in the guild hall. Master was still standing in the aisle fuming as Natsu began stalking out of the guild and Gray followed him. They were both surprised when Master yelled, "That damn brat! I'll go beat him myself!"

He suddenly charged towards the entrance of the guild but when he got there, was stopped as if he'd run into a brick wall.

Gray and Natsu ran towards him, both stopping slightly behind him. Gray asked, "What the hell gramps, why can't you get through?"

They all looked up where purple writing appeared in the air. It was unintelligible to Natsu and he asked Makarov, "What the hell is that?"

The old man growled, "It is Freed's magic. He is a master of writing runes. Those runes say, People over the age of 80 and stone statues cannot leave. He's put a trap around the entire building and made it so that I can't leave."

Natsu cursed, "Well, it looks like I'll have to deal with that lightning puke."

Makarov turned to him, "Don't underestimate Laxus. Erza and Mirajane together would have trouble taking him on."

Natsu growled, "Don't underestimate the strength of my rage right now."

He began walking out the door but ran into the same problem that the Master did, he couldn't pass. Gray had been walking beside him and passed through without incident. He looked back and said in a shocked voice, "What the hell Natsu? Are you over 80?"

Natsu said in a quiet dangerous voice, "No, but it must have something to do with the dragon aspect of me."

Gray then said cockily, "Don't worry flame-brain, I'll go beat Laxus while you babysit the girls."

Natsu smiled coldly, "I think not." He settled his sword into a two handed grip and then thrust it into the wall made of runes. The sword easily passed through, and the runes that were hanging in the air began to flicker, and then flow through the air into the sword. Natsu watched as the red runes in his sword began to glow, slowly inching their way up his sword, 'Damn this is a pretty powerful trap, can't absorb too much or I won't be able to use my sword in battle.'

He waited until the runes were about a quarter of the way up his sword and pulled it out. He noted that the barrier was still there but this time when he tried to step through it he succeeded. However, when Makarov tried he was still unsuccessful. The small man cursed, "It seems I won't be going out after all."

Natsu grinned at him, "Don't worry gramps, I got this."

He then sped off with Gray in his wake, leaving behind an extremely frustrated guild master. He stopped in the middle of the street to scent the air, trying to catch the scent of Laxus. He couldn't find Laxus's scent, but he did smell Evergreens. Without a second thought he said to Gray, "You keep searching for Laxus, I'm going to find Evergreen and show her just how big of a mistake she's made."

Gray looked at him uneasily, "Natsu, she's still a member of Fairy Tail, seriously, don't kill her."

Natsu gave him a hurt look, "Come on Gray, do you really think I'm going to kill her?"

Gray replied, "Well, you did threaten to cut her throat a few minutes ago."

Natsu shrugged, "I was bluffing. I've never actually killed anybody you know. It's messy and inefficient."

Gray gave him a wry look, "It didn't really look like you were bluffing."

Natsu grinned, "I spent a long time in dark guilds, I know how to act like a crazy dark mage."

Without letting Gray say another word to him, he used small bursts of flame from his feet to propel him up on top of a house. He scented the air again, found Evergreens scent, and dashed off, jumping between houses as he followed his nose. It took him a quarter of a mile away from the guild and he found her in front of a bakery, standing over a stone statue of Elfman. She was poking it with a toe when she sensed Natsu up on the rooftop and she turned to look at him, "Oh, so you want to fight now too?"

Natsu glared at her, "It will be less of a fight and more of a slaughter."

The brunette laughed and said, "You won't catch me by surprise this time, criminal scum."

Natsu smiled coldly at her, "I don't need to."

He was mildly surprised when the wings on her back, which he thought were just decoration, began to beat and she rose up into the air. She laughed and flicked her fan out to cover her face saying dramatically, "You can't win. I'm the Queen of Fairies."

Natsu only said, "Wouldn't that be Titania Erza?"

Apparently this was a sore spot for her because she hissed, "She's a stone statue and I'm still here, so that makes me the Queen."

Natsu glared at her, "About Erza, release her. Now."

She laughed again, "I don't think so. With her gone people will truly acknowledge me as the true fairy."

Upon hearing this Natsu let flame coalesce around his sword and said coldly, "Very well, feel the flames of my wrath!"

He pushed off the roof with a small burst of flame and flew towards the brunette woman. She only laughed and flew away. He growled as his quarry began getting farther away and gave chase, finally catching up to her near a large castle like structure. She turned around and said, "You're a persistent little brat aren't you. Well deal with this!" Her body began to glow with a golden aura as she shouted, "**Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!**"

Small golden bullets began to pop into existence and shoot towards him. He moved to absorb the ones headed for him but a few pinged off of his sword and the rest hit him, ripping his clothes and scratching his extremities. He cursed inwardly, 'Damn those are actually solid. I guess I'll have to dodge them, or just blow them out of existence.'

Evergreen laughed and said, "You can't stand up to me little boy."

More golden bullets popped up and flew towards him. This time he smiled and swung his sword in a diagonal slash while shouting, "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**" A burst of fire erupted from his sword and flew towards Evergreen. It blew through the bullets flying at him and impacted her in a burst of fire, throwing her back into a crenelated tower. As she was sent flying, Natsu jumped towards where she would impact. They arrived at the same time and a moment after she impacted with the tower, he had a hand on her throat and the tip of his sword hovered over her heart.

He said calmly, "I win. Return the girls to the way they were."

She only smiled and went to lift her glasses up with a hand but he stopped her by saying, "Don't even think about it. If you try and use your eye magic, you will lose both hands, and then both eyes."

She only laughed at his threat, "It doesn't matter, you don't know about my other ability, Remote Control! I can make those statues crumble to dust from here! Bow before me, or I shall shatter those statues right now!"

Natsu laughed and said, "Go ahead, if you do, your life will be forfeit afterwards, but not before I make you suffer. I spent years in dark guilds, and I know some people. I know this one lady, she's certifiable insane. I've seen her a few times since joining the guild, and she keeps asking if I'm going to bring her a Fairy to pluck the wings from. I keep telling her no, but I think I might make an exception for you. No one would even know. I'd just say that you ran away during our fight and I never found you."

He could see the fear building in her eyes. He narrowed his dangerously and said in a cold whisper, "Or I can take you to a slaver's guild. You know exactly what they will do to you. I'll give you to them for free on the condition that you never be sold or allowed to leave. How would you like that, Miss Queen of Fairies?"

He could see the abject terror all over her face now and decided to drive his point home. He suddenly shouted, "What will it be? Release them, or spend the rest of your short miserable life suffering in an agony you can't comprehend."

She said in a squeaky voice, "I'll release them!"

He growled, "Do it. Now!"

She replied quickly, "It's done! Please don't give me to the criminals!"

Natsu growled at her, "Never threaten a dragon's mate. For her I would destroy the world and everything in it."

He cracked her over the head with his sword, knocking her unconscious. Natsu let go of her neck and she slumped to the ground. He turned and was surprised to see Erza standing behind him, dressed in the same gothic outfit she had been before. He stuttered, "Wh-what? How did you get here so quickly?"

She smiled at him, "Apparently my artificial eye was able to negate some of her ability. I turned back to normal a while ago."

Natsu sheathed his sword and quickly closed the distance between them. He could see the look of apprehension on her face but he grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug, holding her tightly as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. He could feel her hesitantly put her arms around him to return the hug as he breathed deeply; inhaling her scent just to make sure that she was there. He murmured, "I'm sorry you had to see that. I didn't want you to."

She asked him, "Would you really have done all that?"

He pulled her in tighter, "I don't know. If she really had turned you to dust, I probably would. I'd give her to Ultear and I wouldn't regret it for a moment."

He could feel her disengage from the hug and he let her. She put her hands on his shoulder and looked into his eyes saying, "That's not something you should be able to do."

He said without a trace of humor, "I don't think you understand the whole, one and only love, insanely possessive and over protective thing that's going on here. I'm a dragon Erza. I'm a dragon in human form, and when angered dragons do great and terrible things."

She lightly rapped him on the head, "Who said I need protecting?"

He grinned at her then, "You don't. That doesn't mean I won't do it."

She gave him a glare, "Who says I want you protecting me?"

He shrugged her hands from his shoulders, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. He felt her resist for a moment but he didn't let go, and soon she gave in to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth to explore it. He could feel the vibrations of the small pleased sound she made travel between their interlocked lips as their tongues danced against each other.

Natsu broke the kiss and said, "That says you want me protecting you."

She blushed and said, "Maybe."

He winked at her, "You look absolutely mouthwatering in that outfit. I think I want to take you home rip it off of you."

She blushed even harder and went to backhand him but he ducked it and moved back in, wrapping his arms around her and trapping her arms at her side. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "The crisis is over. We can let somebody else deal with Laxus. Nobody will notice if we don't show up at the guild for a day or three."

He punctuated his statement by nibbling on her earlobe. He could feel her melt in his arms and let out a small moan of pleasure. Natsu grinned and was about to take her by the hand and lead her off when suddenly, a multitude of objects appeared in the sky, floating around the city in a circle. He groaned and said, "I think something is getting in the way of our plans."

Erza looked up and saw the objects in the sky and said, "Those look like lacrimas, with lightning bolts on them."

Natsu cursed, "That has Laxus written all over it. Damnit! Now we have to go find him."

Suddenly they both whipped their heads around at the sound of explosions coming from Kardia cathedral. Natsu grinned at her, "It looks like that just got a lot easier. Come on!"

They rushed off towards the cathedral, arriving only a few minutes later. Natsu bounded up the steps with Erza only a step behind. He stopped at the wide open doors to see Laxus squared off with somebody that he didn't know. The unknown man was standing with his back to Natsu and had five staves stuck in the ground in a semicircle in front of him. Erza was right behind him and she shouted, "Mystogan?"

The man turned around, and something seemed familiar to Natsu just from what he could see of his face. The man named Mystogan looked surprised and tried to hide his face but Laxus shouted from the other end of the cathedral, "You're wide open!" and shot a bolt of lightning at the man that hit him in the head and blew apart his hat and high collar. When the smoke cleared there stood Jellal.

Natsu felt a cold pit form in his stomach at the same time flames began erupting from his sword. Erza gasped from beside him, "Jellal?"

Natsu said dangerously, "I guess I'm just going to have to destroy you again. I won't make any mistakes this time."

Jellal turned and said, "The one person I wanted to hide this from was you Erza. I'm sorry, I'm not Jellal. I know of him, but we are not the same person."

Natsu's anger was pierced by a tiny bit of confusion and the flames roaring around his sword began to diminish. He asked, "What do you mean?"

The man shook his head and said, "I leave the rest to you."

He disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Natsu groaned and said inwardly, 'Deal with it later, finish off this punk now.'

He stepped forward, ignoring the still shocked look on Erza's face, and the tears that were leaking out of her eyes, and pointing his sword at Laxus. He shouted, "Alright punk. Fight me and let's finish this."

The blonde man ignored him, instead firing a bolt of lightning at the still stunned Erza. It struck her and her body flexed as it shocked her, and she screamed. When the lightning was done shocking her the screaming cut off, and she collapsed onto the floor. Natsu looked at her and then looked back at Laxus, feeling his rage go through the roof. His rage went through the roof, and so did his flames when they coalesced around him and rose in a pillar fifty feet high. He didn't say a word but charged towards Laxus. He got there a second later and swung his sword horizontally at the large man's neck.

He was shocked, figuratively, when Laxus's body transformed into lightning and shot to the other side of the cathedral before turning back into human form. Natsu screamed at him, "Fight me you damn coward!" before charging at him again. The man looked bored as lightning coalesced around his fist and he swung it at Natsu without even looking. Natsu ducked under it and then swung his sword upwards shouting, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" He could see the surprised look on the other man's face when his attack connected and blasted him backwards into a pillar.

A moment later Laxus dropped down from where he'd struck the pillar, looking not much worse for wear, and said, "Looks like I might have to take you seriously punk."

Natsu gave him an emotionless look and said, "I will destroy you for hurting Erza."

Laxus laughed, "Oh is she something special Salamander? She's not that strong."

Natsu said coldly, "Strength is not the only thing that matters in this world."

The lightning mage glared at him, "It seems like the old man has corrupted you to. Strength is all that matters."

"Then I'll just beat have to you down and prove that I'm the stronger one."

He saw a flash of scarlet in front of his face and realized that Erza had jumped in front of him, again. She said to Laxus, "What is that in the sky?"

He grinned at her, "Ever heard of the Thunder Palace?"

She gasped, "You're going to attack Magnolia?"

"Only if you don't beat me in the next 5 minutes."

Erza backed up until she was standing next to Natsu and said, "Can you beat him?"

He replied without taking his eyes off of Laxus, "This guy is a chump. It'll be over in minute."

She said, "I'm not going to take the chance that we'll take too long. I'm going to go destroy the Thunder Palace so that it won't blow up the city."

Laxus laughed when he heard, "You can't. There's body link magic cast on them, destroying even one might mean death. Who knows how many are out there, you can't destroy them all."

Erza smiled gently and said, "I will face death to protect the people important to me, and this town."

Natsu gave her a sharp look, "Don't go doing anything crazy like last time. I might not be there to save your ass again."

She looked at him and said fiercely, "You've saved me once; I'm not going to throw my life away again."

With that she leaned down to give him a quick, passionate kiss and then ran out of the cathedral.

Natsu yelled after her, "This doesn't count as a date!"

When she was out of sight he turned his full attention back to Laxus who was looking at him curiously, "I always knew Erza had a thing for weird guys. I never thought I'd see her with a criminal though."

Natsu leveled his sword at Laxus and said, "You won't be seeing much of anything in a few minutes."

The man cracked his knuckles and said, "Bring it punk."

Natsu charged him, igniting his sword and swinging it in a flurry of strikes at Laxus. The lightning mage dodged and weaved never letting himself get hit, and sometimes countering with a lightning charged punch. They fought around the large cathedral, both receiving hits but never enough to give one an advantage. Natsu was in the process of swinging across his body when Laxus turned into a bolt of lightning, flew behind his back, turned back into a human and kicked him across the cathedral.

He flew twenty feet and slid to a halt before bouncing up on his feet. He was just in time to block and absorb a lightning bolt from the blonde man. Laxus frowned, "So your sword eats magic? I wonder if those little red markings represent how much it can eat. Let's find out."

He started chanting, "**The roar of summoned thunder rolls far and wide, now plummet from the heavens and turn him to ash.**" Lightning was flowing from the man's hands and forming a rapidly spinning orb in the air above Natsu. Before Natsu could move Laxus shouted, "**Raging Bolt!**" and the huge ball of lightning shot at Natsu. He lifted his sword to absorb it and felt the impact drive him to his knees. A moment later his sword had absorbed the attack, but now the red runes were halfway up his sword.

Natsu stood back up and glared over at Laxus who was laughing, "Doesn't look like you can take many more shots like that brat."

Suddenly they both heard explosions all around Magnolia. Laxus looked up and Natsu could see that he was looking at some runes that had suddenly appeared in midair. He growled, "Damn them! How the hell did they destroy the thunder palace?"

Natsu grinned, "Looks like we win Laxus. Pack up and go home."

Laxus roared, "No! I'm going to destroy you and Fairy Tail if I have to do everything myself!"

Natsu was about to make a snarky reply when Gajeel bounded into the cathedral. He slowed down when he saw the scene and then walked over to stand next to Natsu. He drawled, "Looks like you might need some help Salamander."

Natsu yawned, "Nah, I thought I'd catch a nap and then finish this"

Gajeel laughed, "Gihihi, but seriously this guy is a monster. I hate to say it but it might take both of us."

Natsu suddenly became serious again, "You're probably right."

The black haired man said, "Don't go getting used to this though. This is the only time we're teaming up.

The pink haired dragon slayer grinned at him, "Anytime you want that rematch."

"Right after this. Now, Let's go!"

They both charged at Laxus, sending a flurry of blows his way. He seemed hard pressed now to keep up with both of them, barely blocking and dodging. He caught Natsu by surprise though, and sent a bolt of electricity through him, throwing him back into Gajeel. He quickly swung around and slashed at Laxus shouting, "**Flame Slash of the Flame Dragon!**"

The blast of fire was followed by Gajeel's iron club arm lashing at the lightning mage. Instead of hitting him though, both attacks missed as he transformed into his lightning form and shot up into the air. He turned back into his human form and shot balls of lightning at Gajeel that blew him back into a pillar. This gave Natsu an opening and he jumped at Laxus shouting, "**Sword Horn of the Fire Dragon!**" He swung his sword and struck Laxus, sending him flying.

This gave Gajeel an opening from where he was, just having gotten loose of the pillar. He turned his arm into an iron spear and shouted, "**Iron Dragons Lance: Demon Logs!**" Dozens of iron spears flew out and impacted Laxus, smashing him to the ground. Both dragon slayers sucked in gigantic breaths and then used their breath attacks simultaneously on Laxus, creating a massive explosion.

When the smoke cleared a few moments later, they felt their jaws drop. Laxus was standing there laughing, "Is that it? You guys are pathetic. I'll show you real destruction."

Lightning began to arc around him, and his canines seemed to grow longer. His muscles bulged and his pupils disappeared, leaving nothing but the whites of his eyes. He grinned maniacally and shouted, "**Roar of the Lightning Dragon!**" shooting a huge beam of lightning at Gajeel and Natsu. Natsu was barely able to raise his sword to absorb the attack, but Gajeel got hit by the full brunt of it.

When it dissipated, the runes on Natsu's sword had risen until they were three quarters of the way to the tip. He stood there panting, little bits of electricity arcing off of his sword. Gajeel was worse off, lying on the ground struggling to get up as the aftershocks of the attack still affected him. Laxus grinned, "I'm done with this. You, Erza, Mystogan, the old man, I'm done. I'm going to destroy everyone in this puny town!"

He put his hands together and magic began coalescing in them. Natsu got the eerie feeling that he'd felt this magic before and thought, 'This magic… it's exactly like the one the old man used during the Phantom battle.'

Natsu shouted, "There's no way you can use **Fairy Law**!"

Laxus only grinned, "I'll show you in a few seconds, and you'll be nothing but dirt beneath my boots!"

Natsu was about to charge him in an attempt to interrupt the spell when he heard a feminine voice behind him shouting, "Laxus! Stop this now! Your grandfather is in critical condition you have to go see him!"

He turned his head and he saw Levy standing in the entrance, with a worried look on her face. Natsu thought, 'Shit, if the master is down, I'm probably the only one that can stop Laxus now.'

He turned back to Laxus to see him grinning. He said, "Good, if the old man dies, I'll get another chance to become Master."

Natsu shouted, "You're a heartless bastard Laxus."

The blonde ignored him as the golden light in his hands got larger and he shouted, "**Fairy Law: Activate!**"

Golden light exploded from the orb in his hands, and rushed out to engulf Natsu, Gajeel and Levy. It flew past them and soon engulfed the entirety of Magnolia. A few seconds later, it dissipated, leaving everyone slightly worse for wear, but not completely defeated as it should have. Natsu was just as confused as Laxus who was muttering, "What happened? My **Fairy Law** was perfect. Why aren't they defeated yet?"

Another voice sounded behind Natsu, "It's because your heart wasn't in it."

Natsu turned again to see the odd green haired man, although he looked like he'd lost a fight pretty badly. He continued, "Everyone is fine, because in your heart you don't see them as enemies. You truly are your grandfather's son. You can't see the guild as your enemy. You can't lie to magic Laxus."

Laxus was suddenly in a rage, "Everyone who stands in my way is my enemy. I'm going to destroy this town and this guild! I'm not that man's grandson, I'm me! I'm Laxus!"

Natsu said coldly, "I've had enough of you. You're a damn spoiled brat. Nobody cares if you're the old man's grandson. I'm going to have to beat some sense into your thick head."

Laxus only roared angrily and charged at him. Natsu responded and fire coalesced around his form. Lightning had done the same for Laxus and when they clashed they flew upwards, letting their respective element control their movement. They burst through the ceiling of the cathedral and flew above it, making passes at each other, each trying to score a hit. Laxus finally did when he shouted, "**Lightning Dragons Breakdown Fist!**" and punched Natsu. The fire dragon slayer was able to bring his sword up to absorb the magic, but the sheer force of the blow sent him hurtling downwards, smashing into the roof of the cathedral.

He stood up and noticed that the runes on his sword were all the way at the tip; it had absorbed as much magic as it could. Laxus landed on the roof and shouted, "Look's like your sword is done eating my magic punk. Now what are you going to do?"

Natsu grinned, ignoring his words. He reversed his grip on the sword, and plunged it into the roof of the cathedral. The tip and about four inches went in, the rest stuck up out of the roof. He began chanting under his breath and after a few moments was done. He then looked up and shouted at Laxus, "I don't need my sword to beat you!"

He thought to himself as Laxus charged him, 'I need to hold out for two minutes, if I can do that everything will be ready.'

It was the longest two minutes of his life. Most of it was spent getting hit by Laxus. He could only try and dodge as lightning powered punches flew at him. Without his sword, he lacked the offensive capabilities to strike back, and so could only defend. When the two minutes was finally up, Natsu was panting and trying desperately to dodge Laxus's strikes. He was unsuccessful, and one caught up full in the face, sending him flying. Luckily he landed near his sword.

Laxus started walking over to him, thinking that he was defeated and that he could gloat a little before landing the final blow. Natsu didn't do anything to dissuade him of the notion, using the sword to pull himself into a standing position and leaning on it to stay upright. Laxus got within ten feet of him and shouted, "Where's all that big talk now trash? It's 100 years too early for you to be fighting me."

He stopped suddenly, and glanced down at Natsu's sword. Natsu grinned and said, "Too late lightning boy."

Before Laxus could move Natsu placed both hands on the hilt of his sword and shouted, "**Dragon Slayer Sword Art: 1000 Sword Prison!**"

Flaming swords suddenly appeared in the air above the cathedral. They appeared in a circle 10 feet in diameter with the sword in the middle. Natsu was at the center, and Laxus was just inside the edge of the prison. The swords hovered in midair, hilt upward, with the cross guards of each sword connected to the one next to it. This continued one hundred feet in the air, circle upon circle of flaming swords. The top circle was filled in, leaving no room for escape out of the top.

Natsu chuckled, "You've gone and done it now punk." Laxus was too busy looking around in awe to respond. Natsu ripped his sword out of the roof of the cathedral and walked over to the edge of the prison, passing through it with ease.

Laxus saw and tried to do the same, but was forced back due to the massive amount of heat being given off by the swords. Natsu laughed, "I've never actually been able to use this before, I can't believe this worked."

Laxus shouted at him, "What the hell is this?"

Natsu grinned, "It's a sword technique."

He held up his sword to show Laxus. All of the red runes that had marked it before were gone, leaving it the normal shining black obsidian.

Natsu continued, "I used the energy that my sword absorbed to create a massive magic circle underneath the roof. It took a few minutes to set up though, so I had to endure without my sword. When you stepped into the radius of it, I activated the magic. I've never actually used this spell though, it's working rather well."

Laxus roared at him, "Let me out of her you damn brat!"

Natsu could see Freed, Levy, and Gajeel out on the street, their mouths gaping at the sight on the rooftop. He said to Laxus, "I don't think so."

He raised his voice and shouted, "This is your punishment for angering a real dragon Laxus. You should know better than to threaten a dragon's mate. Now, feel the flames of my wrath!"

He leveled his sword at the man and intoned, "**Dragon Slayer Sword Art: 1000 Sword Flaming Destruction!**"

The thousand fiery blades hanging in the air all slowly turned until they were pointed at Laxus. They suddenly flew at him, all impacting him simultaneously, causing a massive explosion and a huge pillar of flame to shoot into the sky.

It took a minute for the flames to dissipate, and when they did, Laxus body was lying on the roof of the cathedral. He was bruised, bloodied, burnt, and barely alive.


	15. Chapter 15

Natsu was lying on his couch thinking, 'I need to get some hobbies.'

It was the day after his fight with Laxus, and after taking Laxus's unconscious body to the Fairy Tail infirmary, he'd gotten himself bandaged up and gone home. He hadn't required extensive bandaging, just a few wrapped around his sore ribs and wrappings around his forearms. He hadn't stopped to chat with anybody on the way out so he didn't really know what was going on in the guild at the moment, and he really didn't care. He was still trying to calm down from the full blown fury that the entire ordeal had caused, and he was a bit self-conscious. He thought he might have gone a little overboard on Laxus and didn't want the guild judging him at the moment.

He decided that lunch was in order so he made his way to the kitchen to look for food. He was just about to open the refrigerator when he heard a loud knock on his front door. He walked back to the living room the open the door grumbling, "At least they have manners this time."

He opened the door and was surprised to see it was only Erza. She asked, "Can I come in."

He grunted and stepped back out of the doorway saying, "I'm surprised you didn't just break in like last time."

She gave him a half angry half frightened look, "I would never want to get strawberry cake banned from your house. Then I could never come over here."

Natsu chuckled and said, "Speaking of strawberry cake, are you hungry? I was just about to make lunch."

The red head smiled at him, "Sure, I'm pretty hungry."

He led her through to the kitchen and set about making lunch, putting rice on to boil and then expertly chopping vegetables and fish to fry up. Erza watched it all wide eyed with astonishment, "How the hell do you know how to cook."

Natsu shrugged as he worked, "I got tired of the mystery meat special in the dark guilds so I taught myself. It's surprisingly easy to learn how to cook when you can break into a bunch of top end restaurants and help yourself to their stuff."

Erza growled at him warningly, "Natsu…"

He turned and grinned at her, "What? It's not like I'm hiding my past. You know exactly who I was."

She grumbled, "You don't have to be so nonchalant about your criminal acts."

Natsu shrugged again as he turned back to preparing the food, "I'm not going to apologize for the choices I've made. They're turned me into the person I am today, and I kind of like how I am.

Erza lapsed into silence then, and he let her. He calmly worked on the food waiting to see if she would speak again. She didn't in the twenty minutes it took him to prepare lunch. He divided everything up onto two plates and took them to the table, putting one in front of her and saying simplh, "I hope you like it."

He sat down and began eating. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they both ate and he could tell that she was enjoying it from her facial expression. He was about to ask her how she liked it when they both heard his front door slam open. Erza was on her feet in an instant, sword requiped into her hand and in a battle stance. Natsu sniffed the air and groaned, knowing that all hell was about to break loose.

Mirajane stormed into his kitchen, angrily clutching a piece of paper in her hand. She ignored Erza and marched up to Natsu, shoving the paper in his face and saying, "Hah! I won the Miss Fairy Tail Contest, therefore you can't date Erza and have to date me."

Erza was standing mouth agape, not able to say a word. Natsu just sighed and said, "Look Mirajane, I told you I wasn't going to date you, even if you won. Plus, your bet was with Erza, making it so that she can't date me, I can still date her."

Mirajane smacked him on the head and said, "It doesn't work that way! If you won't date me then you don't get to date the tin head over here."

Erza sighed and hung her head, "She is right Natsu. It was a bet made with honorable intentions, she won and I cannot back out."

Natsu slowly stood up and then said in a quiet deadly voice, "Erza, I'll deal with your foolishness in a minute. Now Mira, I know you didn't just attack me, after rudely barging into my home."

She didn't look very perturbed at that fact, "What about it?"

Natsu grinned evilly and said, "Sorcerer's Weekly is going to pay me so much for those topless photos of you that I won't have to work for a year."

Mirajane's jaw dropped, looking from Natsu's grinning face, down to her very ample chest that was straining against her tight leather clothing, before looking back up at Natsu and whispering, "No way, you don't have anything like that."

Natsu very intentionally looked down at her chest just like she had, and then back up at her face, "Is that something you want to risk Mirajane? Your fans are pretty crazy right now, just think what would happen if those got out there."

Her face paled and she slowly backed up, "You know what, I'm going to go back to the guild and wait there to have this argument. But you still can't date Erza, because I won our bet."

Natsu just groaned and growled, "Out."

Mirajane shot off like a bolt of lightning and they heard the door slam behind her.

Natsu then calmly strode over to Erza and placed a hand beneath her chin so that she had to look up into his eyes, "I won't let something as trivial as a bet come between us. If I have to, I will go down to the guild and beat Mirajane to a pulp until she lets you out of that stupid bet."

Erza smiled at him, "Thank you Natsu, but I'm not sure how well that would go over with the guild."

Natsu laughed, "True. Maybe I should go make a bet with Mirajane about something I know that I'll win. Then get you out of the bet."

Erza laughed with him, "That's really not necessary I'll find my way out of the mess on my own."

Natsu got serious then and growled, "No. You're mine, no matter what some white haired she-demon thinks. I'm going to ignore that stupid bet, and we're going to go out on a date."

Erza blushed and changed the subject, "Do you really have those pictures of Mirajane?"

Natsu grinned, "Hell no. There are a lot of perverts in the guild, but there's no way any of them are that stupid. I'm just bluffing by hitting her sweet spot."

She smiled, "I'm glad you won't resort to something that indecent. So, were you bluffing about banning strawberry cake?"

Natsu growled playfully, "Oh no, I was deadly serious. If you break into my house, there will be no more strawberry cake here."

She pouted, "But I haven't gotten to have any here anyways."

He grinned and turned to the refrigerator, pulled out a large platter that held on it, a strawberry cake. He set it down on the counter and he could see her salivating over it, "One piece, you have to save some for later."

She walked over and practically pushed him aside as she scrambled to get a plate, cut a piece, and eat it as fast as she could. He grumbled as he watched all of this, "Jeez, I try and be nice and all it gets me is a shove."

She ignored him and finished her cake, then calmly stood up wiping her mouth clean as she did. Her head swiveled towards him and she put on a seductive smile before sauntering over and wrapping her arms around his neck. She whispered to him, "Is there something in particular you wanted?"

He instinctively put his arms on her hips and pulled her against him, "You could stay with me tonight. My bed is too big for just one person."

Despite her very recent try at seductiveness she blushed saying, "Don't you think that's moving a little fast Natsu?"

He winked at her, "Get your mind out of the gutter Erza. I was just suggesting you sleep with me tonight. I like it when you're near me."

She blushed even harder, "Well, you did give me cake, and I think we're dating."

Natsu laughed, "Of course we're dating. I have asked you out on a date and you have accepted. But, a bit more importantly to me, you are my mate. If you accept that, then to me for all practical purposes we're married."

Instead of blushing harder her face went white, "M…m…married? I'm too young to be married!"

Natsu groaned, "We're not actually married. I think you're forgetting the whole dragon aspect of me. One true love and all that stuff."

Color slowly returned to her face as she said, "Okay. So it's like you think you're married to me."

Natsu grumbled, "Yes. Something like that."

She smiled "Well then, I guess I shall stay here tonight as thanks for the cake. But I want the rest of it!"

He grinned, "One of these days I'm not going to have to bribe you with cake."

She let go of him and stepped back saying, "But it will never hurt. By the way, it's about time for me to go start getting ready for the Fantasia parade. You'll be in it too so you need to think of something to wear and do."

Natsu laughed, "Oh no. No way I'm being in the parade."

She growled at him, "You have to, we have so many injured wizards that we're really shorthanded for it."

He shook his head, "No. I'm not going to advertise my presence any more than I have to. Most of the residents of the town don't know who Natsu Dragneel is, but they do know who the Salamander is, and if I'm in the parade everyone will recognize me as the Salamander. I don't want that kind of notoriety or scrutiny around Magnolia."

Erza crossed her arms, "Natsu, you are a part of the guild. We want you to be in the Fantasia Parade."

Natsu smiled and said, "I thank you for the invitation, but I will have to respectfully decline. Besides, if I can't watch it, how can I see you in it?"

She growled at him, "You're not going to make me less angry by flattery!"

He grinned, "Will the promise of dinner after the parade and the rest of the cake work?"

Her face twitched as her stern expression threatened to turn into a smile. He watched as it broke through and she said, "Fine. You don't have to be in the parade, but I expect a damn good dinner!"

She turned and strode out and he watched her go thinking, 'Well tonight should be interesting.'

* * *

><p>It was getting to be that time of day, so Natsu strapped on his sword and left his house. He walked down to Magnolia, the setting sun at his back. As he walked into the town he could see the crowds gathering for the coming parade. He smiled softly as kids ran between shop stalls shouting about their favorite Fairy Tail mages. Two small boys got into a tussle over who was better, Erza or Mirajane. Natsu passed them and muttered to himself with a grin, "Definitly Erza."<p>

He decided that he'd get the best view by hopping up on top of one of the buildings next to the main road and so just a few minutes before the parade was to start he did. By this time it was full dark, but the main road was well lit for the festivities. The crowd had swelled and lined the sides of the main road, packed in very tightly. Natsu grinned, 'I'm glad I can get up here, because there is no way I want to stand in that crowd.'

He could hear cheering coming from his left and knew that the parade was starting. He sat back and watched float after float go by, each of them bearing his comrades who were smiling, waving, and showing off their magic. Gray and Juvia made a frozen castle with floating ice spelling out Fairy Tail. Lucy, Levy, and Bisca were all dressed in pink costumes and doing a cheer. The Strauss siblings were doing the clichéd princess in the castle, with Lisanna as the princess and Mirajane and Elfman as her demon captors. Natsu toyed with the idea of jumping down to play the gallant prince but thought better of it.

Finally Erza's float came down the road and Natsu focused all of his attention on it. She was dressed in a white armor set trimmed in red and gold, with a winged circlet on her head. She was showing off her telekinesis by twirling swords around in different patterns. As she passed in front of him though she looked up and noticed him sitting on the roof, and he could have sworn she winked. Suddenly a golden glow surrounded her and she requiped into a much more revealing set, themed the same, but that showed off her long legs and toned body. He grinned and growled possessively, "Mine."

He was startled when he heard a deep voice behind him say, "She does look mouthwatering does…" When he heard the voice Natsu had drawn his sword and whirled around, leaping towards the sound and placing his sword at the throat of the large man standing on the roof with him, back far enough so that they couldn't be seen from the parade or the street.

The man was powerfully built, with tanned skin and a beard. He grinned even with a sword at his throat and said, "Jumpy are you Salamander?"

Natsu grated out, "I must be going soft if I let you sneak up on me. Who are you?"

The man's grin never wavered, "That depends on who you are."

Natsu's mind spun as he tried to understand what this man was saying. It struck him suddenly, 'This must be the old man's kid. Let's see how this plays out.'

He said out loud, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander."

The man replied, "What is a notorious criminal like the Salamander doing in a legitimate guild like Fairy Tail."

Natsu sighed heavily, "A long story involving a stupid bet and a girl."

The man laughed, "There's always a girl isn't there."

Natsu grumbled, "The one time I find a challenging girl she's in a legitimate guild."

The man gave him a pointed look, "So I take it you're not in Fairy Tail because you want to be?"

Natsu shrugged, "Like I said, I made a bad bet and lost, but I always stick to my word. Besides, I have to work somehow, and this way the council isn't always breathing down my neck."

The man smiled again and said, "I'm Ivan Dreyar, and I have a proposition for you."

Natsu brought up a hand and tapped the side of his head as he said, "Hmmm, Dreyar. Isn't that the name of that punk-ass lightning mage I just had to beat up?"

He could see that he'd struck a nerve in Ivan, "That would be my worthless son."

Natsu continued, "So that's makes you the old man's kid."

Ivan said smoothly, "Unfortunately. Now do you want to hear my offer?"

Natsu shrugged, "I've never turned down a good opportunity in my life, so let's hear it."

The bearded man said, "I do not like Fairy Tail, which seems fairly obvious. I have formed my own guild called Raven Tail to oppose them. I would like you to secretly join my guild and work as a double agent for me. You see, there is something that I want very badly from Fairy Tail. They have a secret buried somewhere, and I intend to dig it up and use it against them."

Natsu frowned and looked at Ivan thoughtfully, "Doesn't seem like there's much in it for me."

Ivan said, "You don't seem too happy in Fairy Tail. They wouldn't even let you in their big parade. Once I find the secret it will destroy them, and then you'll be free to do as you please."

Natsu glanced at Erza's float in the distance, "There are a few things I'm happy with."

Ivan laughed, "The girl? You can have her. Once I force Fairy Tail to disband you can take her and do what you want with her."

Natsu let a serene contemplative look settle across his face but his mind was whirling, 'What the hell secret is he talking about. Of course I'm going to accept his offer, but I can't seem too eager.'

He said, "If you do destroy Fairy Tail, I want my record kept clean in it. There's no way I'm going to go on the run from the council again."

Ivan nodded and said, "Fine. Anything else?"

Natsu grinned inwardly but kept his outward appearance stoic, "I want half of whatever money Fairy Tail has stashed away."

He could see it grate on Ivan's nerves but he said, "Fine."

Natsu grinned then, "You've got yourself a deal."

He lowered his sword from Ivan's throat and sheathed it saying, "What do you want me to do."

Ivan smiled grimly, "I'll be in touch to explain. I can't stay in Magnolia too long else that bastard of an old man will notice."

Natsu nodded and watched as Ivan turned and hopped down from the rooftop, disappearing into the darkness.

The fire dragon slayer sat back down on the rooftop and thought about the exchange. He hoped he hadn't come off too eager and given the game away. He thought about it for a while, decided that he'd been believable, and got up and headed for the guild. The parade was over and he hoped to find the Master and tell him about the events that had transpired.

He arrived and when he threw open the doors a roar of sound rushed past him. There was a party in full swing going on. Mages merrily drank and partied after the conclusion of the parade. He walked in and almost immediately guild members began accosting him, demanding to know why he hadn't been in the parade. He was able to blow most of them off until he was almost to the bar when Mira got in his face. She yelled over the noise, "Why the hell weren't you in the parade?"

He yelled back, "Because I didn't want to be. Have you seen Erza around?"

When he asked that she got a noticeably angry expression on her face, "What the hell are you looking for the tin can for? It's a party, and the prettiest girl in the room is right in front of you."

He slowly looked up and down her body, obviously checking her out. He did this for what seemed like a long time, causing her to blush. He finally said, "Sorry Mira, I have a thing for the color red."

She looked extremely angry and about to attack him so he held up his hands and said, "Look Mira, I'll burn the photos if you let Erza out of the bet and back off."

She looked at him suspiciously, "How do I know you even have them?"

He gave her an evil grin, "Well, I can always post them up in the guild for you to see."

Mira started to look panicked and said, "Fine, fine. I'll back off and you can date the tin can. Just… just get rid of the pictures!"

She stalked away and Natsu just grinned at her. Red hair came into his view as Erza walked up to him. She said curiously, "What's got the demon bitch so angry?"

Natsu winked at her, "Oh, she tried to pick me up. I told her that I'd burn the pictures if she backed off and let you date me."

Erza's cheeks colored pink and she grinned conspiratorially with him, "Oh, well then. Good. I'm glad that worked out."

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close before whispering in her ear, "Me too."

He could feel her shiver against him as he let her go and he said, "I have to talk to Master. When I'm done we can go have dinner."

She nodded, still looking a bit dazed, and Natsu went looking for the master. He found him sitting on the bar casually drinking a mug of ale. Natsu went up to him and said, "I'd like to talk to you in private."

Makarov noted the seriousness of the request and said, "Meet me in the office in two minutes."

Natsu nodded and went straight there, not bothering to wait at all. He did have to wait for Makarov though, who took his sweet time getting there. The Master walked in and went to sit behind his desk. He asked Natsu, "Alright, what do you want to talk about."

Natsu said simply, "Ivan decided to recruit me tonight."

The old man suddenly stiffened and said sharply, "What did he want?"

Natsu shrugged, "Apparently Fairy Tail has some big secret that will cause it's destruction and Ivan wants it."

Makarov went pale and said, "What did he call it?"

The pink haired man shrugged again, "He didn't, he just said he wanted it. But, I let him recruit me so now I'm a double agent working for him. He'll contact me later when he wants to do something."

The old man regained his composure and said, "Alright, tell me when he contacts you and what he wants to do."

Natsu nodded and said, "Okay, works for me."

He got up and walked to the door, pausing before opening it and saying, "Are you sure I can't tell Erza about this? Ivan promised me some things that… well… needless to say, Erza would be unhappy about hearing them."

Makarov shook his head, "No. We can't let the information spread."

Natsu sighed, "Fine. I'm off old man."

He walked out of the office and went back downstairs, looking for Erza. It was pretty hard to miss her seeing as how she was head to head with Mirajane and both of them were yelling at each other. Natsu didn't know, and he really didn't care. He jumped between them and held out his hands saying, "Alright, enough!"

They both ignored him and tried to punch him out of the way, which succeeded as he went flying off into a pillar. He got up and stalked back over to the girls who were now throwing punches at each other. He unsheathed his sword and while neither was paying attention, put the tip at Mirajane's throat and grabbed Erza around the waist to pull her into his side.

He growled at Mira, "Stop fighting, now."

He then turned to Erza, "That strawberry cake might just take a spill out the window if you keep this up."

They both paled and then nodded in unison. Natsu put on a smile and said, "Good. Now Erza, I promised you dinner, so let's go!"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the guild, leaving the rest of them with awestruck expressions on their faces at the pink haired man's audacity. He faintly heard after he made it out of the guild, "Now that's a real man!"

He smirked as he slowed down and allowed Erza to catch up to him, but kept a hold of her hand. She was red in the face and he teased, "Awww, c'mon Erza. You'll have to get used to that one day."

She turned her head away and said, "Maybe. We're only dating, that does not mean I am bound to you for life."

Natsu winked at her and said, "If I have my way it does."

They walked in silence until they reached his house. Once inside they made their way to the kitchen where Natsu cooked a simple dinner. They chatted about inconsequential things as they ate, Natsu still thinking about his talks with Ivan and the Master, and Erza becoming more nervous by the second, thinking about the fact that she'd agreed to stay with Natsu that night.

They finished and he cleaned up. By this time it was quite late, and both of them were feeling fatigued. Natsu glanced at her, "So you're really staying the night?"

Erza gave him a glare, "Of course I am. You bribed me with cake."

Natsu grinned, "Good. Then I think it's probably about time for bed."

Erza nodded nervously and Natsu grabbed her hand, leading her down the hall to his bedroom. They entered it and his eyes flicked over the now familiar room. It had a large king sized bed set back in a corner under a window. There was a door across from it that led to the bathroom. There were two small dressers along the wall, and a small night stand next to the bed.

He went over to one dresser and began rooting around in it for something to sleep in. Erza stood stock still where he'd left her. He glanced back and said, "Aren't you going to get ready for bed?"

She stuttered, "I… I'm just nervous. I have never stayed with a man before."

Natsu grinned at her, "Well, it's pretty simple. You get into bed, and you go to sleep."

She glared at him, "How do I know you will not try anything. You have expressed the desire too."

He gave her an amused look, "Please. If I wanted to try something I would, and judging from your reactions, you might just let me." He winked at her and pulled out a pair of dark blue sleep pants.

She watched him silently as he went into the bathroom and shut the door. He could hear her muttering softly with his enhanced senses, "He is such an indecent person. But then again, he's been inspiring some indecent thoughts in me. Why does he have to be so handsome?"

He grinned as he heard all this while changing and walked back out. He passed her and climbed into the bed, knowing that her eyes were on his bare chest and back the entire time. He patted the spot next to him to indicate that she should join him. She looked at him dubiously and then requipped into her pajamas, long pants and a long sleeved shirt with little sword all over them. He smiled and teased, "You are so cute."

She blushed as she climbed into the bed next to him and said, "Shut up, Natsu."

He chuckled and turned out the light, lying down and feeling the gulf between them. He scooted over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her snugly against him. Natsu could feel her body tense when he did and he whispered, "Relax. Just because I used to be a criminal doesn't mean I don't like to cuddle. It just means I've rarely had the opportunity too."

Her body slowly relaxed against his, and he could hear her breathing slow down as they both felt sleepiness envelop their bodies. He kissed the back of her neck and said, "Goodnight Erza."

He heard her whisper, "Goodnight Natsu."


	16. Chapter 16

Natsu spent a lot of time around the guild for the next two weeks. He was pretty apathetic about going on jobs while healing up from fighting Laxus. Not that hanging around the guild didn't have its perks, he decided. A reporter from Sorcerer's Weekly came by and most of the guild tried to impress him. Even Erza got all dressed up for it, which Natsu definitely enjoyed. He mostly sat in the back, avoiding the notoriety that an interview would bring, and laughed while watching Lucy's antics trying to get noticed.

One day he walked into the guild and could see a large chart of something hanging in midair, with many of the mages clustered around it. He walked over and saw that it was a chart of the Balam Alliance, and that Mirajane was explaining what exactly it was for Lucy. He decided to butt in when she squinted at the graph and suddenly said, "Eisenwald? They're part of it?"

He jumped in before Mirajane could explain, "Yeah. Most Dark Guilds can be found somewhere in there, even the crappy five members ones. It all leads back to the big three though, and Eisenwald was under Oracion Seis."

Juvia jumped in, "Gajeel and Juvia destroyed many Dark Guild's working for Oracion Seis when we were in Phantom."

Natsu nodded, "Yeah we heard about you guys a while back. You were a pain in the ass."

Gajeel laughed at that, "Good. Though I wish we'd found you're crappy little guild so that I would have gotten a chance to beat the crap out of you before all that shit with Phantom went down."

Natsu grinned at him, "Not a chance, I still would have kicked your ass."

Lucy said weakly, "Let's get back to the point; I hope they're not angry."

The pink haired dragon slayer shrugged, "They probably don't give a damn. The smaller guilds are only there if they need someone to do something they think is beneath them."

Wakaba spoke up, "Besides, there's nothing to fear from them. I hear there are only six members."

Natsu laughed, "Yet they hold up one corner of the most powerful alliance of dark guilds. They're all individually crazy strong."

Everyone turned when they heard the Master's voice, "About Oracion Seis. We've decided to attack them."

Natsu said, "Seriously? You're going after the six generals?"

Makarov nodded, "At the regular meeting, we discussed the recent activity by Oracion Seis. It was decided that a guild would have to fight them."

Gray groaned, "So it looks like you drew the short straw again huh gramps?"

Makarov shook his head, "No, the enemy is too powerful this time. If it were only us, the entire Balam Alliance would retaliate against us. So we have formed an alliance ourselves. Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Caitshelter, will all send members to strike against Oracion Seis!"

Soon enough Natsu found himself in a wagon on the way to the rendezvous with the other members of the alliance. With him were Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Mirajane. He missed most of the conversation due to his intense motion sickness. All he got out of it was that Lucy was complaining about having to go fight these crazy powerful dark mages.

After a long painful ride he was finally standing in front of a large building with the rest of the team. Mirajane said, "Well, I guess this is it."

They went in and Lucy commented, "The décor in here is kind of creepy."

Natsu agreed with her. There was a large marble statue of a horse in the middle of the entrance hall. All of the candle holders had little golden hearts on the end. Erza said, "This is Master Bob's villa of Blue Pegasus."

Grey said with a nervous expression, "Oh, I'm not really okay with that guy."

Erza said with almost the same expression, "He's very powerful. He could even give Master a run for his money, even with his…"

Natsu agreed remembering the Blue Pegasus master, "Yeah…"

Suddenly they heard three voices from the base of the stairs doing a sort of cheer and song all rolled into one, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, welcome Fairy Tail folks!"

They turned to see three men standing in a spotlight who all then said in unison, "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Natsu could only think, 'What the hell is going on?'

They continued with, "We are the representatives chosen from Blue Pegasus. The Trimens!"

They then introduced themselves. The one with sandy blonde hair and a blue collared shirt with his dark suit said, "I am Hibiki, of the Hundred Nights!"

One slightly shorter than him with light blonde hair and a pink shirt said, "I am Eve, of the Holy Night!"

The last one had very tan skin and black hair, "I am Ren, of the Silent Night."

They all struck a pose when they were finished. Lucy was the first to speak as she squealed, "Trimen's from Blue Pegasus? How cool! The one called Hibiki… He's always at the top of Sorcerers Weekly's; I wish he were my boyfriend rankings!"

She then glanced at Gray and Natsu who stood with arms folded slightly behind the three Fairy Tail women, "The guys from our guild just can't compete."

From somewhere the Trimens got a red couch with a gaudy heart attached to it and placed it in the room. They then led all of the girls over to it and began flirting shamelessly with them. Eve with Erza, Hibiki with Mirajane, and Ren with Lucy. Erza gave Natsu a look that he knew said, "Save me please!"

Natsu only laughed at her uncomfortableness. Mirajane seemed to be getting along fine with Hibiki, although at this point Natsu didn't know who was eventually going to pick up whom. A few seconds later though, they'd left the girls on the couch and stood in front of them. Hibiki said, "Come, you must be tired from your travels, spend tonight with us…"

All of them went to a knee and said in unison as they finished, "Forever!"

Erza and Lucy looked dumbfounded, but Mirajane just giggled at the trio. Gray leaned over to Natsu and whispered, "Aren't you going to do something about them hitting on Erza? I mean, you've been all sorts of possessive over her lately."

Natsu grinned and whispered back, "They seem pretty harmless. Also, it's pretty funny to see all of Erza's reactions to it."

Another voice rang out, "Guests… Stay right where you are."

Ren said, "It's Ichiya!"

Natsu heard Erza stand up mutter nervously, "I-ichiya?"

He looked to the top of the staircase to see a short man with orange hair dressed in an immaculate white suit. His chin though, was gigantic. He said, "It's been quite a while Erza."

She stood before the stairway and Natsu swore he could see her shaking, "I can't believe it… You're joining us?"

Ichiya said dramatically, "I've longed to see you again, My Honey! It is our long awaited reunion!"

He slid down the bannister in dramatic fashion before yelling at the Trimens, "Clean this up quickly, we didn't come here to play!"

As they did he deeply sniffed the air and then said, "Mmm, Excellent Parfum! I have heard about you Erza, Mirajane, Lucy… and the rest."

The Trimens had somehow managed to clean up and now stood with Ichiya. They said in perfect unison to Erza, "We didn't know that you were Ichiya's girlfriend. We apologize!"

Natsu gaped but Erza shouted at them, "I deny it with all of my might!"

Lucy muttered to Mirajane and Erza, "This guy is really creeping me out."

Erza took a few steps back saying, "I can't handle him either. He's a powerful wizard but…"

Natsu interrupted with a growl at the Blue Pegasus wizards, "Alright you Blue Pegasus boy-toys. Stop making passes at the women in my guild, especially Erza."

Ichiya looked at him and said indifferently, "You men can go home."

The trimens walked over to where Natsu and Gray were standing and bowed, saying mockingly, "Thank you for coming!"

Gray said angrily, "They send posers like you like you for something important like this? I'd wipe the floor with you."

All of them instantly became serious and Eve said, "Try us. We're strong."

Natsu laughed grimly, "All right, I'm down for a fight."

Erza said to them, "Stop if you two!"

She was about to continue but was interrupted by Ichiya who had come over by her and was now sniffing her, "Erza, you're parfum is excellent as always."

She looked askance at him and then punched Ichiya in the face, sending him flying towards the open door of the mansion with an angry shout of, "Stay the hell away from me!"

He flew straight into the outstretched hand of Lyon Vastia, who was standing in the doorway. The man caught him by the hair and then ice flowed from his hand and encased Ichiya's head. Lyon said, "This is quite the greeting."

He then threw Ichiya's half frozen body back towards the group where he landed next to the Trimens and the ice around him shattered. Gray looked extremely surprised because he blurted out, "Lyon?"

The man turned to look at him and surprise flashed across his face as well because he said, "Gray?"

Natsu groaned, "This is getting ridiculous."

A voluptuous pink haired woman came up to stand next to Lyon. Soon everyone was arguing with each other, almost everyone. Erza was arguing with Ichiya while Mirajane flirted shamelessly with the Trimens. Gray argued with Lyon, and for some reason Lucy was arguing with the woman named Sherry. Natsu decided to stay out of it and watched the entire scene with amusement, ready to jump in if somebody decided to start a fight.

Suddenly there was a loud banging and a strong voice said, "Cease this! We are making an alliance to defeat Oracion Seis. This is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves!"

Natsu looked over to see a large muscular man standing in the doorway with a staff topped by a crystalline orb. He wore the bottom half of a black robe, his chest left bare except for the blue and white striped mantle about his neck. He had long armbands that took up his entire forearms, looking like they'd been made out of the skin of a green reptile.

He grinned as he recognized the man, "Yo, Jura. Long time no see."

Jura looked at him and his face hardened, "Salamander, I did not think to see you here."

Natsu laughed, "Haven't you heard? I'm in a legal guild now, I'm reformed."

He turned to show him the Fairy Tail mark on his right arm. Jura looked at it and then glanced at Erza who said, "Yes, he is part of Fairy Tail. The council let him join our guild and put him on probation."

Jura frowned slightly but then said, "Very well. Everyone but the people of Caitshelter are here so we're just waiting on them."

Ichiya, who was swinging from Erza's spear that held him high in the air by his jacket, said, "I've heard it's just one person."

Natsu raised his eyebrows in surprise and Lucy said with shock, "One person? How much of a monster is this guy?"

A moment later Natsu caught an unfamiliar scent on the air and turned just in time to see a small blue haired girl wearing a blue and yellow striped dress with a large bow on the front trip and fall face first on the floor. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise as she slowly stood up saying softly, "Owwww."

She finally stood up and noticed that everyone was looking at her and said rather shyly, "Umm. I'm Wendy, from Caitshelter."

Everyone looked at her dumbfounded and murmurs broke out.

"A kid? They sent one kid alone for such a dangerous mission?"

"What was Caitshelter thinking?"

Jura looked around and then continued as if this wasn't shocking news, "Now, all four guilds have gathered."

Natsu laughed and thought, 'And he just continues on like nothing happened. Same old Jura.'

Everyone was startled again when a loud sharp female voice sounded behind Wendy, "She's not alone."

Another one, male this time though still high pitched said right after her, "Aye sir!"

Natsu looked behind the blue haired girl but didn't see anybody, but a small movement brought his eyes down. They bulged out of his head when he saw who'd been speaking. Two small cats stood behind Wendy. One was white, wearing a pink skirt and yellow jacket. The other was blue and wearing a small green knapsack around his neck.

Natsu yelled, "Why the hell are there talking cats?"

Everyone stopped and stared at the two small cats. Wendy turned and said with a surprised tone, "You came Charle, Happy?"

The white cat answered primly, "Of course we did. I'd be far too worried if you came alone."

The blue cat said, "And I just go where Charle goes!"

Natsu muttered to Gray, "This just got a little to surreal for me."

Wendy looked like she was almost in tears as she quietly said, "Umm… I'm not very good at fighting, but I have many spells that can support you. So please don't leave me out!"

The white cat started to berate her, "It's because you're always so weak-kneed that people look down on you!"

The blue haired girl looked down at the ground and stuttered, "I-I'm sorry!"

"And don't apologize so quickly!"

Happy chimed in with, "Aye!"

Everyone stood there in surprise until Erza made the first move. She walked forward and said kindly to the small girl, "I apologize, I was a bit taken aback at first but that was not my intention. I'm glad to have you with us Wendy."

The girl looked up with stars in her eyes and said excitedly, "Look Charle! Happy! It's Erza!"

The white cat looked Erza up and down and said, "She's a much better woman than I thought she'd be."

At this point the Trimen's instinct to flirt with anything female kicked in. The red couch came back out and suddenly they had Wendy sitting on it. Eve was offering her orange juice while Hibiki offered a hot towel and Ren said nonchalantly, "You are just too cute."

Natsu just stared curiously at the small blue haired girl, 'Something seems familiar about her scent, I just can't tell what it is.'

She then caught him looking at her and gave him a large smile. He smiled back, but she missed it as the white cat started to berate her again, "You shouldn't just go around smiling at random guys!"

Apparently Ichiya had had enough of the Trimen's silliness and shouted at them, "We're not here to play around, clean this up!"

In short order it was cleared up and Ichiya stood in front of the group saying, "Now, I shall explain our plan since we are all here."

Lucy murmured to Natsu who was standing next to her, "Is that posing of his really necessary?"

The dragon slayer snorted as Ichiya continued, "I shall start with the place where Oracion Seis has made it's base, after I inspect the bathroom's parfum."

He dashed off and Natsu groaned, slapping his forehead with his palm. He meandered over to Erza while everyone was waiting on Ichiya and muttered, "This is getting ridiculous."

She sighed, "I know, Ichiya is a bit much to handle."

He was about to say something when Wendy came up to Erza and said shyly, "Umm, I'd just like to say Erza that you're one of my role models, and I think you're great!"

The scarlet haired woman smiled warmly and said, "Thank you! I shall strive to live up to your expectations."

Natsu had been bursting to ask, "Umm, why do you have two talking cats with you?"

Wendy eyed him curiously and said, "Charle and Happy are my best friends! They're not actually cats, they're Exceed. I found their eggs when I was little and we've been together ever since they hatched."

Both of the cats that were standing slightly behind her suddenly sprouted wings from their backs and started to fly up to hover around Wendys head. Natsu's eyes bugged out and he said, "They can fly!"

The white cat, Charle, sniffed and said, "Of course we can you oaf."

Natsu glared at the cat, "What the hell did you call me!"

The blue cat hovering in the air next to Charle said brightly, "She called you an oaf!"

Natsu groaned, "This is not what I had in mind for taking on Oracion Seis."

Erza clapped him on the back causing him to stumble forward slightly, "Don't worry Natsu, we have many strong mages here. I'm sure we will be able to defeat them."

Wendy suddenly looked scared, "Natsu… as in Natsu Dragneel the Salamander? The famous criminal?"

The pink haired man grinned, "Yep, that's me. Of course, I'm reformed now though, so I'm on the side of the light."

Wendy looked mildly terrified even with his statements and Charle said, "Come Wendy, let us get away from this criminal, it's not good to consort with his type. We'd be much better talking with the Wizard Saint Jura."

The wide eyed girl nodded and slowly backed away before turning and fleeing over to Jura. The white cat followed but the blue one stayed for a moment and said, "Don't worry about Charle, she's actually really nice on the inside, even if she won't accept my fish." He quickly flew off after his bizarre comment. Natsu sighed, "So much for getting off to a good start with the people in the alliance."

Erza smiled at him, "They just have to know you long enough to get past your reputation. Once they do, they'll see you for who you are."

Natsu gave her a wry look, "And how long did that take for you?"

She blushed, "Sh-shut up!"

He grinned and started ticking off things, "Let's see. You beat me up so I have to join your guild. Then on our first mission out you try and kill me, for which you still haven't apologized. You barely accept my help while fighting against a crazy Wizard Saint, and I have to carry you out of there. I have to save your ass from Jellal singlehandedly, someone who was probably just as powerful if not more powerful than Jose, and only then do you actually start to see past my reputation."

The scarlet haired woman glowered at him, "Are you quite done?"

He thought about it for a moment and then smiled, "Yeah, I think so."

Erza sighed, "Well, I'm sorry then, for trying to kill you back on Galuna."

Natsu grinned, "And I'm the best boyfriend in the world."

"And you're the best boyfriend in the world."

His grin grew wider, "And I'm also better than strawberry cake."

She smacked him over the head with a gauntleted hand and growled, "Don't push it."

Natsu winked at her and planted a kiss on her cheek. By this time Ichiya had returned and everyone was gathered around him again.

He continued his explanation, although something seemed off to Natsu, 'He smells different… I so do not want to know what he did in that bathroom.'

Ichiya was saying, "Out on the Worth Woodsea, ancient people sealed an incredibly powerful magical spell inside of it. Its name is Nirvana."

The Trimens jumped in with Ren saying, "It's incredibly powerful destruction magic, that's all we really know about it."

Ichiya went on, "The reason that Oracion Seis is here must be to get their hands on Nirvana. That's why we will be attacking them. There are 12 of us and only 6 of them, but we must be cautious as they are all incredibly powerful."

Hibiki suddenly snapped his fingers and a screen and small keyboard appeared next to him and he began typing into it. Jura said in surprise, "Archive… that's a rare magic."

Pictures appeared in the air and when Natsu looked they were of Oracion Seis. Hibiki pointed to each of the in turn, pointing out Cobra, a cocky looking man in a white jacket and red pants with red hair that had a large purple snake coiled around him. Racer, a man with a large nose wearing a red jacket and white pants and had blonde hair styled in a Mohawk. HotEye, a huge man with an oddly blocky face and a large mustache. Angel, a small woman with short white hair and a white feathery dress with a neckline that plunged almost to her waist. Midnight, a man sitting on a flying carpet apparently sleeping with spiky black hair. Last was Brain, a dark skinned muscular man with stringy white hair and lines of tattoos all over him, holding a short staff with a skull holding a crystal ball in its mouth topping it.

Afterwards he said, "Each of them holds magic power enough to destroy an entire guild, so we must be cautious. That's why we'll use our numbers to our advantage."

The pictures winked out and Lucy said, "I don't really think you should count me, I'm not very good at fighting."

Wendy nodded furiously, "Me neither."

Ichiya said, "The plan is not to fight them, but to find out base. Then when they gather there, we shall use the pride of our guild, the magical bomber Christina, to wipe their base off the face of the planet."

Lucy said, "We'd really use something like that on people."

Jura cracked his staff on the floor and said, "That is how dangerous they are. It is time then, we will put out plan into action. Remember, don't fight them without at least two other people with you."

Everyone was about to head out when Natsu said, "Wait, this plan won't work."

Everyone turned and looked curiously at him. Jura said, "What about it won't work Salamander?"

The dragon slayer said carefully, "We're working on the assumption that they don't know we're here, and they most certainly do. I know a few of those guys, and they're very proactive when it comes to taking out threats."

Erza cocked her head, "You know some of them?"

Natsu grimaced, "Yeah, I know Cobra pretty well. He's actually a pretty cool guy once you get past the fact that he can read your mind."

Everyone stared at him in shock and Mirajane muttered, "He can read your mind?"

Natsu nodded, "Yeah, crazy bastard uses it to know what his opponent is going to do in a fight. I had a few practice bouts with him about a year ago, I couldn't figure out a way to beat him."

Jura tapped his foot, "I still don't see what this has to do with the plan."

Natsu went on, "They know that we're here, and they've probably noticed Christina and deduced the plan. In fact… if I had to guess… they're close by. They're somewhere lying in wait to ambush us."

Erza smiled confidently, "If we know there is an ambush and are alert it will negate the advantage of surprise."

Natsu shook his head, "Something is bothering me. Generally by now they'd have attacked, or at least tried to infiltrate us. We've all been here for a while so it makes perfect sense…"

He glanced sharply around at the group of people with him, 'Wendy was the last one here, but Ichiya was the only one that left the group. If Angel had time to use her creepy celestial spirits…'

He trained his eyes on Ichiya and said to Gray, "Go check the bathroom… now."

The dark haired man looked nonplussed, "Umm. What? Why?"

Natsu didn't answer because Ichiya laughed and his voice got higher pitched as he said, "So Salamander, it seems you've discovered my ruse."

The Trimens gasped and Jura looked at the short man sharply, "What do you mean Ichiya?"

The small man turned and ran out the door. The Trimen's ran after him shouting, and a moment later Lyon and Sherry did as well. Natsu shouted, "Wait, damnit!"

He groaned and then said, "Come on, they're walking right into the trap."

The Fairy Tail mages and Wendy (as well as her two cats) began to run out of the mansion and Jura shouted after them, "I will get Ichiya!"

Natsu ignored him and kept his concentration on following the mages ahead of him through the trees. He broke out into the open ahead of his friends and Wendy to see that the others had all stopped in front of a large cliff. His group quickly caught up and Hibiki exclaimed, "Ichiya jumped off the cliff and disappeared! What the hell is happening?"

Natsu shouted angrily at him, "They drew you right into the ambush is what's happening!"

Before he could say anything else Mirajane pointed up into the sky and said, "Look, it's Christina."

They all looked up as Christina was flying over their position. Natsu muttered, "No, this is bad."

He turned to the Trimens and said, "Why is it flying now?"

Eve shrugged, "It's on autopilot, that's the programmed flight path and it's about tim…"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the massive noise of the Christina exploding and plummeting down to crash into the forest below the cliff. Everyone but Natsu, who knew exactly what was happening, gaped. Hibiki said, "How could this happen?"

Natsu looked into the smoke billowing up from just beyond the cliff and saw the six figures standing at the edge. He pointed them out and said, "That's how."

They walked forward out of the smoke and into the open and Lucy gasped, "It's Oracion Seis!"

Natsu reached back and slowly withdrew his sword from its scabbard. The man standing in the center of the group, Brain, said in a deep voice, "It looks like the maggots have gathered."

Angel was standing next to him with her two little blue celestial spirits floating in the air next to her, "Naughty Salamander, you saw right through our plan."

Natsu grinned, "I couldn't let you have everything your way."

Cobra replied, "You walked right into our trap anyways, I can hear your trembling."

The pink haired dragon slayer grimaced, "Shut up Cobra. This time, I'm going to beat you."

The red haired man laughed, "I can hear you, and you still have no clue."

Natsu raised his sword and leveled it at Cobra, letting flames coalesce around it, "Bring it then, snake boy."

Brain said, "Do it."

Racer, standing next to Cobra, gave a small sadistic smile before saying, "Okay."

He disappeared suddenly and Natsu could barely keep an eye on him as he blurred across the open space between the two groups. Before anyone could react Racer was in the middle of the them. He spun kicking Ren in the head and at the same time punching Eve in the face. Hibiki only had time to shout, "Eve! Ren!" before Racer had kicked him in the chest and knocked him out. Natsu growled and turned to deal with the threat when all hell broke loose.

Lyon and Sherry charged at Hoteye. Suddenly, there was a doppelganger of Lucy next to the original beating her with her own whip. Gray and Mirajane began attempting to fight Racer. Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor and began to fly at Cobra. When she did so, Natsu charged him on the ground hoping that he would be distracted by one of them.

He could hear the man whisper, "It won't work."

Erza shouted from above, "**Circle Sword!**" and sent dozens of swords shooting at the red haired man. Natsu swung his sword as he charged and shouted, "**Flame Slash of the Fire Dragon!**"

He didn't get to see the result though, when the earth softened and he was sent flying by Hoteye. He landed heavily but didn't have time to see where Hoteye was because Racer was suddenly in front of him, unleashing a series of lightning quick punches and kicks. Natsu was barely able to block or dodge them but suddenly the man was behind him and he felt Racer's foot drive into his back.

He flew forward but managed to stop his momentum by rolling and popped up, his sword in a guard position. He was just in time to see Cobra's snake, Cubellios, bite into Erza's arm, and to hear her scream in pain as its poison began to flow through her veins. She fell to the ground and when Natsu looked around he saw that everyone was lying on the ground defeated. He glared over at the six Oracion Seis mages who had gone back to their original positions. Brain smiled softly, "It looks like you chose the wrong side Salamander."

The large man then pointed his staff and green light began to coalesce and pulsate on the end of it. He began to say, "**Dark Ro…**" but suddenly stopped.

The light died away and all of the Oracion Seis mages looked nonplussed as Brain muttered, "Wendy…"

Natsu turned to look where Brain was looking and say Wendy cowering behind a rock with Happy and Charle. Cobra asked, "Why did you stop the spell Brain?"

The large man straightened up and smiled, "Wendy, the Sky Maiden. I did not expect to encounter her here. It seems we've found ourselves a present."

He then pointed his staff at her and the green light burst forth from it and flew through the air towards Wendy. It formed a hand and grabbed her. She screamed and Natsu began to rush towards her, intent on cutting whatever the green light was and freeing her. He was unable to get there though as Racer was suddenly in front of him, again sending dozens of punches and kicks his direction. Natsu was caught by surprise and was hit with most of them, which sent him flying backwards where he landed on the prone body of Mirajane.

He watched as Charle and Happy tried to save Wendy but to no avail, as Happy was also caught up in the green light and both Wendy and the small blue cat were absorbed into the staff. Brain smiled grimly and pointed it back at the group of defeated mages saying, "I have no more use for any of you."

"**Dark Rondo!**"

Streams of green light flew towards the group but he then heard a deep voice behind him shout, "**Rock Iron Wall!**"

The earth distorted and pillars of rock flew out to intercept Brain's attack. He heard Jura murmur, "Good, just barely in time."

He glanced back at the wizard saint but when he looked forward at the Oracion Seis mages again, they were nowhere to be found.


End file.
